WeeklyDigest 12012022

 What are the options for Chamisa after the  Hamilton to decide on F1 future after Abu Dhabi
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Wednesday January 12-18, 2022

Omicron for
Christmas: How rural
Zim experienced the
pandemic

Fresh impetus for
Africa’s gas

REPORT HIGHLIGHTS PENSION FUND STRUGGLES

AFRICA IN BRIEF January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 2

Somalia’s leaders agree to delayed election Mali ‘strongly condemns’ ECOWAS
sanctions, closes land borders
1 SOMALI leaders have
announced they struck a Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble accused the president of violat- 4 Mali’s military-domi- Boubacar Keita amid street pro-
deal to complete parlia- ing the constitution and of an 'attempted coup nated government has tests against his unpopular rule.
mentary elections by Feb- “strongly” condemned
ruary 25, after repeated de- gun battles on the streets of Mog- the open again when Farmaajo “illegal” sanctions im- Under threat of sanctions, Goita
lays that have threatened the sta- adishu, with some rivals viewing it suspended Roble, accusing him of posed on the country by the Eco- subsequently promised to restore
bility of the country. as a flagrant power grab. corruption for allegedly interfering nomic Community of West Afri- civilian rule in February 2022 after
The agreement on Sunday was in a probe into a scandal over ar- can States (ECOWAS), adding that holding presidential and legislative
reached after several days of talks Roble then brokered a new time- my-owned land. it has closed its land borders “with elections.
hosted by Prime Minister Moham- table to a vote, but in the months the states concerned”.
ed Hussein Roble with state lead- that followed, the pair’s bitter rival- Elections in Somalia follow a ECOWAS and the West African But he staged a de facto second
ers aimed at ending an impasse ry derailed the polls again. complex indirect model, where- Economic and Monetary Union coup last May, forcing out an inter-
over the polls. by state legislatures and clan del- (UEMOA) imposed a raft of eco- im civilian government. The move
“The ongoing election of the They agreed to bury the hatch- egates pick lawmakers for the na- nomic and diplomatic sanctions in disrupted the reform timetable
House of the People [lower house] et in October, and issued a unified tional parliament, who in turn response to Malian military lead- and was met with widespread dip-
will be completed between the call for the election process to ac- choose the president. ers’ desire to push back elections lomatic condemnation.
periods of January 15 and Febru- celerate. until 2025.
ary 25, 2022,” said a statement is- Military spokesman Colonel Ab- ECOWAS insisted that Mali hold
sued after the talks in the capital, But their clash spilled out into doulaye Maiga said in a televised elections in February. But the gov-
Mogadishu. statement yesteday that “the gov- ernment then said it would only set
Roble and Somalia’s President ernment of Mali strongly con- an election date after holding a na-
Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, demns these illegal and illegiti- tionwide conference – arguing a
better known by his nickname Far- mate sanctions”. peaceful vote was more important
maajo, have long been at logger- “On the basis of reciprocity, Mali than speed.
heads over the long-delayed elec- has decided to recall its ambassa-
tions, with fears their squabbling dors and close its land and air bor- The government suggested that
could erupt into violence. ders with the states concerned,” he a transition could take anywhere
The international community added. between six and five years.
has voiced its alarm over the crisis, The meeting in Ghana of region-
fearing for the stability of the coun- al leaders followed months of in- On Sunday, ECOWAS said it
try as it continues to battle a dead- creasing tensions over the time- found the proposed timetable for a
ly armed uprising by the al-Shabab table for restoring civilian rule in transition totally unacceptable.
armed group. Mali after two coups and a military
The feud between the two lead- takeover. The 15-member bloc said it had
ers erupted again last month when In August 2020, army officers, agreed to impose additional sanc-
Farmaajo suspended Roble, the led by Colonel Assimi Goita, top- tions with immediate effect, in-
man he had himself chosen as pre- pled the elected President Ibrahim cluding the closure of members’
mier in September 2020. land and air borders with Mali, the
But Roble accused the president suspension of non-essential finan-
of violating the constitution and of cial transactions, and the freezing
an “attempted coup” and defied of Malian state assets in ECOWAS
the order, while Farmaajo himself central and commercial banks.
faced calls by opposition leaders
to vacate his office. — AFP
Farmaajo’s four-year mandate
expired in February 2021, but was
controversially extended by par-
liament in April, triggering deadly

Gauteng man fights for life ECOWAS leaders during an extraordinary summit on Sunday
after sustaining bee stings
Schools reopen in Uganda after
2 Emergency workers fered over one hundred stings and that the first man was attacked by nearly-two-year COVID closure
said a Gauteng man is was in a critical condition. the bees when he was walking past
fighting for his life after the hive. The second man then ran
he sustained over 100 “Advanced Life Support inter- to his aid.” 5 Uganda has ended the 19-related restrictions in the coun-
bee stings on Monday vention was needed to stabilise In a separate incident last week, world’s longest school try in September last year, but he
afternoon. him before he was taken to a near- six people were stung by a swarm closure, ordering mil- left schools shuttered.
The incident took place in the by hospital for further care.” of bees in the Ballito area in KZN. lions of students back to
Cosmo City area in Johannesburg. Paramedics said workers had the classroom after a gap of near- He announced in October last
According to Kyle van Reenen, He said a second man, believed been mowing a lawn when they ly two years. year that schools would reopen
Emer-G-Med paramedics re- to be around 35-years-old, suf- disturbed the hive. Two people Some 15 million pupils have not early next year regardless of the
sponded to two males being stung fered approximately ten stings and were treated by Advanced Life attended school in Uganda since vaccination uptake, which is cur-
by a swarm of bees. was treated and stabilised on the Support Paramedics before being March 2020 when classrooms rently low.
“The 30-year-old male had suf- scene before being taken to hospi- taken to hospital. — IOL were shuttered as COVID-19 swept
tal for further care. the world. The rush to return children to
school clogged traffic in the capi-
“Reports from the scene allege tal Kampala on Monday.

Long queues as parents demand school places for children Education Minister John Muyin- Child rights groups had criti-
go said all students would auto- cised Uganda’s decision to keep
matically resume classes a year schools fully or partially shuttered
above where they left off. for 83 weeks, longer than any-
3 Hundreds of guardi- “Why did they not place her them outcomes by yesterday. “All schools have implemented where else in the world.
ans and parents yester- around our area, because where MEC Panyaza Lesufi pleaded guidelines and standard operat-
day were up at dawn to I am staying we have a nearby ing procedures to ensure the safe Uganda has recorded 153,762
queue at Thuto Thebe school that is 3km away? with parents to remain patient as return of children to schools, and cases of COVID-19 and 3,339
Pri- mary School in Zone 1, Ga- officials were working tirelessly to measures have been put in place deaths, according to the latest
Rankuwa, hoping for placement of “They said they will help us when place all learners as soon as pos- to ensure those who don’t com- government figures issued on
their children. they got here early in the morn- sible. ply do so,” he told the AFP news January 7.
The parents, some of whom said ing, but even now many of us are agency.
they had been waiting since 3am, not assisted,“ the frustrated moth- The provincial department’s on- Muyingo said any private Ugandans have shown reluc-
were hoping to get their children er said. line admissions system for Grade 1s schools demanding fees above tance to get jabbed so far despite
placed ahead of the start of the and 8s has been fraught with prob- pre-pandemic rates would be President Museveni stating that
2022 academic year tomorrow. “I do not think we will get as- lems since its adoption in 2016. sanctioned. “right now 4.7 million vaccines” are
By midday, Tumisang Rahlo- sisted today. Since last year, we Ugandan President Yoweri Mu- available with a further 23 million
go, whose daughter is set to start have been waiting and schools will By yesterday morning, close on 1 seveni lifted the bulk of COVID- doses expected by the end of the
Grade 1, said she had been waiting be opened on Wednesday. What 500 Grade 1s and 8s had not been year.
for more than 12 hours but had yet about my child?” placed.
to be assisted. — Al jazeera
Rahlogo said her daughter Rahlogo said the Department of The DA urged Lesufi to ensure
had been placed in a school in Education had failed parents and that all learners were placed before Child rights groups had criticised Uganda's decision to keep schools fully
Soshanguve by the Gauteng De- learners dismally as it has caused schools opened. or partially shuttered for 83 weeks, longer than anywhere else in the world
partment of Education. so much inconvenience by placing
She said she had no idea where them anywhere and everywhere, “It is extremely regrettable that
that school was located. with no idea of distance and con- parents are not sure whether their
“My daughter has been admitted venience. children will be placed; they are
to Sokhela Primary School, which I unable to buy uniforms, arrange
have never heard of, but believe “We are struggling with the new transport where needed and buy
it is somewhere in Soshanguve. I system. Why not bring back the old stationery.”
cannot allow her to go there as I system for applications because
have no idea how she would make this online system is not working The DA said it would be pro-
it to and from school every day. for us.” posing that online applications be
opened before May and conclud-
The department said it had pri- ed before September to ensure
oritised 866 appeals by parents that all learners were placed before
who were not satisfied with the of- the schools reopen.
fers they had received. It promised
— Pretoria News

THE DIGEST VIEW January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 3

The political WD
chameleon

changes
colour again

er in a legitimate administra- COVID-19: Rights and democracyIMBABWEANS, like the
tion. Such a process is the only
route to Canaan for our beloved rest of the world, last
country that has known no po- week celebrated the
litical or economic stability for
close to three decades. Zcoming of the newyear.
travel across provinces and in
Mwonzora cannot fool the some instances internationally.
nation into accommodating They were not bound by rules
him in a GNU yet it knows full- and regulations that affected the
well that he represents no-one
in Parliament other than his People held festivities, lesser mortals.
selfish interests. Lest we for-
get MDC-T is part of the Po- some held all- night parties, bars In Zimbabwe, government
litical Actors Dialogue (Polad),
a grouping of fringe politi- were open and firecrackers were officials including the President
cal parties that performed dis-
mally in the 2018 general elec- lit. Life for the first time resembled and Zanu PF were not bound
tions, which was put togeth-
er by Mnangagwa as a façade a normalcy, but reality quickly by the lockdown regulations.
for dialogue when his overtures
for dialogue had been snubbed dawned after schools opening They could hold mass rallies
by MDC Alliance leader Nelson
Chamisa. Then MDC-T lead- was postponed. despite a clear and strict rule
er now Mwonzora’s deputy
Alfonce Mbizwo Thokozani Khupe was an ac- Since April 2020, Zimbabwe like that gatherings of more than
Editor tive part of that charade which
took her and others to the West many other countries had some 50 people were banned. This
I T has been clear for a while to convince it to remove sanc-
now that opposition MDC- tions slapped on Zimbabwe for lockdown of one level or another. was a classic example of George Paidamoyo Muzulu
T leader Douglas Mwonzo- gross human rights abuses and
ra is an opportunistic pow- failure to stem endemic corrup- This was in response to rising Orwell’s classic satirical book— any lockdown despite registering
er-hungry politician, more tion. 200 000 cases of COVID-19 cases
concerned with his place at the COVID-19 infection cases and Animal Farm. daily. He wants the British to live
top table to the exclusion of We wonder why Mwonzora normally again.
everything else. has decided to go solo when deaths and to some measure, fear The book has the famous France’s Emmanuel Macron
that platform is still alive and introduced a health pass. He
The difference between kicking. Is it that he thinks he by politicians and their hope to err quotation: “All animals are equal argued the vaccinated should live
Mwonzora and bitter rival, Nel- can secure a gratuitous posi- normal lives and the unvaccinated
son Chamisa of the MDC Alli- tion for himself in such a GNU? on the side of caution. Lockdown but some are more equal than should have their lives restricted.
ance is like day and night. One The law has since been passed
analyst put it like this: Chamisa The nation should dispense measures included a shutdown others.” by the French National Assembly
seeks political legitimacy that is with such self-serving leaders and awaits debate in the Senate.
based on a free and fair elec- because at this very crucial time of industries or workplaces, There were lessons learnt that It seems there is an emerging
tion, while Mwonzora is preoc- for the struggle to unshack- convergence that lockdowns
cupied with a strategy of politi- le ourselves from the bondage restricted movement, curfew included the realisation that have not worked and in many
cal accommodation rather than of dictatorship, we need unwa- respects hit the economy hard.
respecting the will of the peo- vering selfless leaders. We need and a near total ban on social countries cannot be locked down There is also the realisation that
ple. leaders, who are not lured by COVID-19 may be around for
trinkets, which our President activities like funerals, sports and forever. While public health is some time.
He clearly does not want conveniently dangles to the After nearly two years of lockdown,
elections where he will be ex- power hungry and lily-levered entertainment. important, the economy cannot Zimbabwe needs to debate
posed to an electorate that opposition politicians with no COVID-19 restrictions candidly.
feels that he has sold out to the following on the ground. These lockdown measures were be allowed to flounder. How long can the economy
hated administration of Presi- survive the lockdown? How long
dent Emmerson Mnangagwa We warn Mwonzora that his backed by section 86(2)(b) of The economy had to be opened can the country suspend election
and his Zanu PF party. shenanigans will not take him of public representatives? What
anywhere because the nation the Constitution that allows for as many people were falling has been significant benefits of
So, reports that he nicode- is watching him. He should not the lockdown? Can the damage
mously met President Emmer- deceive himself that since he, limitation of rights under certain into penury and needed State done to education by prolonged
son Mnangagwa on the day the with the help of State machin- closures be remedied in the short
date for the holding of by-elec- ery, almost decimated MDC Al- circumstances that include in the assistance for their survival. State to medium term?
tions was announced are cause liance, he is so cunning to be Is it not time that Zimbabwe
for concern given that last year able to pull wool over the whole interest of public health. assistance is a function of the opens up on COVID-19 infections
the sly politician did the same nation. and deaths? Who and where
in a bid to cause postponement The section read: “The level of economic growth and is the COVID-19 genome
of the 2023 plebiscite in favour Zimbabweans want real sequencing being done? Why
of a government of national change which cannot be deliv- fundamental rights and freedoms development. Poor countries, have all lockdown measures been
unity (GNU). ered by self-seeking individu- introduced through Statutory
als bent on lining their pockets set out in this chapter may be even if they want to help their Instruments and not primary Acts
The nation should be con- who hop from one party to the of Parliament?
cerned because a GNU is not other in search of positions. limited only in terms of a law citizens, cannot because they
the solution to our perennial Paidamoyo Muzulu is a journalist
problems, which require genu- Or maybe Mwonzora knows of general application and to have large budget deficits and based in Zimbabwe. He writes in
ine all-embracing national dia- he stands no chance in an open his personal capacity.
logue centred on political and election, and so, cozying up to the extent that the limitation is would have to rely on donor
economic reforms and pave Mnangagwa is the only way he
way for a democratic process can stay politically relevant? fair, reasonable, necessary and agencies.
leading to elections that ush-
justifiable in a democratic society In the past week, there has been

based on openness, justice, some interesting developments in

human dignity, equality and South Africa, England and France.

freedom, taking into account all They prioritised their economies

relevant factors, including— (b) and putting measures to get back

the purpose of the limitation, in to pre-COVID-19 normalcy.

particular whether it is necessary South African President Cyril

in the interests of defence, Ramaphosa, despite surging

public safety, public order, public cases of the Omicron COVID-19

morality, public health, regional variant, kept his country on level

or town planning or the general one lockdown.

public interest.” He argued that he had to keep

The effects of the lockdown the economic wheels grinding,

measures were felt differently lifted the curfew and allowed all

by different classes of citizens. business to operate as normal. In

The poor and working class other words, South Africa is trying

bore the brunt of the restrictions to co-exist with COVID-19 without

while the rich and powerful were panic.

scarcely scathed by the lockdown In the United Kingdom, Prime

regulations. Minister Boris Johnson said his

The rich continued to hold parties, country was not going back to

Weekly Digest is published daily by Alpha Media Holdings EDITOR Tel: 883184-8/887057/58/69/70/71 Tel. 883184/5/6/7/8,887069/70/1,887058/885280/1/2. AMH subscribes to truthful,
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ANALYSIS January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 4

IPEC report highlights
pension fund struggles

THE insurance and pen- veloping compliance roadmaps in ties. with prescribed asset require- uptake of the assets in spite of the
sions sectors are strug- cases of noncompliance and come For life assurers, total invest- ments has also been on a down- industry having been consulted
gling to comply with the up with viable projects for possi- ward trajectory and the commis- during the period.
minimum prescribed as- ble conferment of prescribed asset ments in prescribed assets by the sioner said in order to improve
set requirement, with life status by the Minister of Finance life assurance sector amounted to compliance level, various bankable Pension funds play a very pivot-
assurance companies and reassur- and Economic Development. $1.83 billion translating to a com- projects have been accorded pre- al role in the economy by channel-
ance companies failing to meet the pliance level of 2.84% while for scribed assets as they meet both ling current pension savings into
thresholds in the third quarter of “Non-compliant life re-assurers the nine months to 30 Septem- the developmental and value pres- investments in financial assets and
the year 2021. are encouraged to develop pre- ber 2021, the total investments in ervation requirements of insurers subsequently transforming these
scribed asset compliance plans prescribed assets by the life re-as- and pension funds. assets into a predictable post-em-
The Insurance and Pensions in line with SI 206 of 2019 and ployment income for many around
Commission (IPEC) announced come up with viable projects surance sector amounted to During the third quarter of 2021, the globe. They are an engine of
mid last year the commencement for the possible conferment $45.5 million translating seven (7) applications were con- economic growth but however,
of the development of a new pre- of prescribed asset to an average compli- ferred with prescribed asset sta- pension funds in Zimbabwe face a
scribed assets framework that status by the ance level of 3.90%. tus including the Zimhydro Pro- myriad of challenges including lack
would ensure that institutional in- Minister of All things be- ject US$14 million for the produc- of meaningful prescribed assets to
vestors funds are hedged against Finance ing equal, tion of hydro-electricity at Lake, invest.
inflationary pressures. and Eco- pre- Mtirikwi in Masvingo Origen US$5
nomic scribed million for contract farming and for Pension funds have been seek-
Prescribed assets are bonds or Develop- assets, purchasing of grain from farmers ing to invest offshore but the legis-
securities issued by the govern- ment. such as for trading and the IDBZ US$100 lation requires that they only make
ment, Local Government, qua- stocks, million for Infrastructure develop- domestic investments.
si-government organisations or Pre- bonds ment.
any other bond that may be ac- scribed and oth- While they are mandated to in-
corded the prescribed asset sta- asset in- er types Other projects are the US$20 vest at least 20% of their invest-
tus. During the period under review vest- of Gov- million Victory Tobacco Pvt Ltd for ments in prescribed assets in the
all life assurance sector players re- ments ernment contract farming, purchase of to- form of local registered securities
ported prescribed asset ratios that are an paper bacco from contract farmers, to- which are issued or guaranteed by
were below the minimum required impor- should bacco processing and construc- the state or which are issued by a
threshold of 15% while only one out tant re- be gen- tion and installation of green leaf local authority or statutory body,
of four life re-assurers was compli- source mo- erating threshing plant. the implication is that sometimes
ant with the minimum prescribed bilisation tool significant pension funds have to disinvest
asset threshold. for funding long returns. There was also the US$5 million from higher yield investments so as
term government pro- However, inflation- Untu Capital one for on-lending to meet the statutory requirements
In its Q3 life report, Ipec said pre- jects of national interests to ary pressures have affect- to MSMEs, the NMB $2 billion for with regard to prescribed assets.
scribed assets investments were foster socio-economic devel- the 2021/2022 summer cropping
an important resource mobilisa- opment towards a middle-income ed the level of returns investors programme and the $650 mil- The challenge with prescribed
tion tool for funding infrastructure economy and the attainment of Vi- can generate from such assets as lion Agrowth (formerly CICADA) for assets is that it is very difficult to
development and other projects of sion 2030,” the commission said. prescribed assets are mostly fixed 2021/2022 summer cropping pro- access competitive prescribed as-
national interests to foster socio- interest assets. Over the years it gramme sets in the Zimbabwean market
economic development. Statutory Instrument 206 of 2019 has become difficult to reconcile a and the problem is exacerbated by
requires all life re-assurers to have a fixed interest instrument amid high This brought to 17 the number of a shallow financial market where
The regulator called on industry minimum of 15% of their assets in- inflation. approved prescribed assets since the equities and the property mar-
players to continuously carry out vested in prescribed asset securi- January 2021 but of concern to the ket are the main markets for pen-
compliance self-assessments, de- For pension funds, compliance Commission has remained the low sion funds in the country.

ANALYSIS January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 5

Fresh
impetus

for
Africa’s

gas

ABy Seth Onyango “However, it may decide to follow coveries in the last decade were in Omar Farouk Ibrahim have insist- International climate policy ex-
frica’s push for a just one set of policies at home (classi- Africa, mainly in Senegal, Mauri- ed that only a dual carriageway pert Mohamed Adow noted that
energy transition has fying natural gas as green) while tania, Mozambique and Tanzania, will propel Africa’s energy agenda the UK for decades funded and
been given fresh impe- still opposing the financing of nat- with 17 countries already produc- – where fossils and renewables are profited from the expansion of
tus after the European ural gas by the World Bank and the ing gas with seven net exporters ingredients in the continent’s en- fossils in Africa.
Union drafted a propos- European Investment Bank. If this and seven net importers, according ergy cocktail. “While it was reaping the bene-
al to classify natural gas projects as is the case, these actions can be to the African Energy Commission. fits of decarbonising its own ener-
“green energy” investments. This termed immoral and unjust; a form At a meeting in Brazzaville, Con- gy system it was shackling poor-
would mean that for several dec- of green colonialism.” “Over 45% of African natural go last year, the two industry cap- er nations with dirty fossil fuel in-
ades more, natural gas-endowed gas production is exported,” said tains pushed for an adaptive and frastructure, which the world must
states in Africa could plough bil- At Cop26, 20 countries and five the energy and commodities data market-driven approach in the en- now move away from,” he pointed
lions from the sale of the commod- development banks had pledged company. ergy transition, where hydrocar- out in an op-ed in The Independ-
ity into their economies, create jobs to stop approving finance for fossil bons are not excluded or eradi- ent.
and invest in clean energy. fuels by the end of 2022. They in- In her recent essay in Foreign cated. He further argues that if rich pol-
cluded the US, Canada, the World Policy, Ramachandran argued it is luters want Africa to leapfrog the
Natural gas and nuclear projects Bank, most of Western Europe and “not true that Africa’s energy devel- “We will not allow billions of bar- dirty development path and har-
could soon be included in the Eu- six African states. opment will sabotage the world’s rels of oil to go to waste and we ness clean energy – then it must
ropean Union’s “sustainable fi- climate rescue plan”. will not be bamboozled into pro- pay for it. But the bill is huge.
nance taxonomy” after Brussels On the sidelines of the event, Ni- jects that we don’t need – ones In July 2021, South Africa’s na-
announced plans to label the two geria’s foreign minister Geoffrey “Not a single African nation is which will not address ener- tional power utility firm, Eskom
energy sources as ‘green’ invest- Onyeama in a joint press confer- planning a long-term future dom- gy poverty. We need to sit down Holdings SOC Ltd, put forward
ments. ence with US Secretary of State inated by fossil fuels. Kenya, Zam- and have an honest conversation a $10 billion plan to multilateral
Anthony Blinken, lambasted the bia, and Ethiopia already generate about the energy transition,” Ibra- banks and agencies to help it tran-
“Taking account of scientific ad- move as ill-advised and appealed more than 50% of their power from him said. Those sentiments were sit to renewables.
vice and current technological pro- for gradual de-carbonising of fos- renewables (versus just 20% for the echoed by Barkindo. Eskom emits nearly 213 million
gress, as well as varying transition sils industries in Africa. United States),” she wrote in part. tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year,
challenges across Member States, “We in OPEC also categorically making it one of the biggest fos-
the Commission considers there is “This would really be a huge blow “Nigeria’s population is on track reject the narrative that the ener- sil fuels emitters in Africa.
a role for natural gas and nuclear as for countries such as ours that want to surpass the United States by gy transition is from hydrocarbons With the cost still sky high and
a means to facilitate the transition to see gas as a transition fuel and 2050, but it currently has less than to renewables because this narra- nobody willing to pay, OPEC and
towards a predominantly renew- to have time in which to work to- 1% as much power capacity. So tive is completely misrepresenting APPO argue that Africa’s energy
able-based future,” the European wards net zero … but in the mean- what is Nigeria’s energy transi- science,” Barkindo reiterated. transition should be gradual.
Commission said in a press state- time to be able to also continue to tion plan as presented in Glasgow? But the oil and gas industry is
ment released on January 1. use gas and exploit the gas that we Grow electricity capacity about “We believe that all sources of facing growing opposition from a
have at our disposal.” eightfold by 2050 using mainly so- energy are required today and in public greatly concerned with the
According to the commission, lar power.” the future to meet the challenges environmental impact of fossil fu-
gas and nuclear projects will be Already, African states were of climate change and future en- els and ever-more sceptical inves-
considered green if they produce struggling to attract fresh invest- Africa contributed just 4% of ergy demand. According to our tors.
emissions below 270g of CO2 ments into the oil and gas sector. greenhouse gas emissions be- World Oil Outlook at OPEC, en- With $16 trillion in expected in-
equivalent per kilowatt-hour (kWh). tween 1990 and 2017 despite con- ergy demand will grow by a min- vestment in the next decade, the
The EU’s move would be music stituting 17% of the world’s popu- imum of 25% between now and case for decarbonising the conti-
While the EU’s move has elicit- to the ears of states like Nigeria, Al- lation, making it the least polluter. 2045. Therefore, we have to pro- nent is stronger.
ed a backlash from climate change geria and Mozambique – all coun- mote all energy resources in an Countries in Africa are already
activists who accuse the commis- tries which, with adequate invest- Opinion is divided on whether efficient and sustainable manner. positioning themselves as recipi-
sion of “greenwashing” dirty fu- ments, will be able to profit from Africa can afford to strand its fos- Our industry, therefore, is part of ents of some of that huge renew-
els, the proposal could be a game- their vast deposits of natural gas. sil fuels. New discoveries of oil and the solution to climate change.” able energy spend and some Af-
changer in Africa. gas signal possible fortunes – but rican countries are already turning
As of 2020, Africa had over 630 at what cost? As the least contributor to themselves into frontrunners in
Vijaya Ramachandran, director trillion cubic feet in natural gas re- greenhouse emissions, players in the global clean energy transition.
for energy and development at the serves, according to the data re- The African Development Bank Africa’s petroleum industry feel South Africa and Morocco are
Breakthrough Institute in Berkeley, search firm, Statista. notes that a “renewable energy they are justified in pushing back. both touting their technological
California told bird that the com- revolution could unlock Africa’s so- innovations around green hydro-
mission’s decision was a step in the Statista figures show Nigeria ac- cial and economic development. OPEC and APPO argue that the gen, while many countries on the
right direction but should be fol- counts for the bulk of the conti- However, a change in the politi- global south and especially Africa continent are making or enabling
lowed through with action. nent’s natural gas deposits, boast- cal economy is needed to move should be given leeway to pow- large investments in solar PV and
ing more than 200 trillion cubic away from the current preoccupa- er their economies with hydrocar- wind generation. — bird
“If the EU acts in a fair manner, feet in natural gas reserves. tion with big power projects, cen- bons just like the West did.
it will afford Africa a just energy tralised electricity production and
transition by enabling investments Algeria and Mozambique fol- a heavy reliance on coal.” Petroleum firms argue that in-
in natural gas just as it does for its lowed, with 159 trillion cubic feet dustrialised countries were able
member countries,” she said. and 100 trillion cubic feet, respec- OPEC secretary-general Mo- to overcome others in wealth and
tively. hammed Barkindo and his coun- power by tapping into fossil fuels
terpart at the African Petroleum hence Africa should do so too.
According to S&P Global Platts, Producers Organisation (APPO)
nearly 40% of global new gas dis-

COVER January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 6

A timeline of key economic

LBY TATIRA ZWINOIRA ZSE statement. tated by the COVID–19 pandemic, a dete- The National Railways of Zimbabwe
AST week, our paper looked at some of the September 22 riorating foreign currency crisis and gener- (NRZ) says COVID–19-induced hard lock-
biggest economic news from the first half Zimbabwe’s biggest tobacco auction al economic mismanagement. downs and competition from the road
of 2021. transportation system will see total freight
In this article, we look at some of the firm, Tobacco Sales Floor (TSF), says vol- October 18 volumes dropping to 2,1 million tonnes in
biggest economic news highlights that umes rose by 143% during the third quar- The parallel market exchange rate rock- 2021.
our sister papers reported on from the second half ter ended July 31, 2021, in line with higher eted by 27% during the third quarter (3Q)
of 2021. national output reported during the peri- of this year, marking its steepest ever October 26
od, following a good rainfall season. growth in one year, according to research- Finance and Economic Development
Economic highlights ers at Inter Horizon Securities (IH). minister Mthuli Ncube raises annual in-
July 1 September 24 October 19 flation targets to between 35% and 46%,
Gold output plunged to seven tonnes in the first Zimbabwe’s foreign currency receipts Finance minister Mthuli Ncube reports saying pressures from rocketing interna-
five months of 2021 from 9,2 tonnes during the increased by 32% to US$5,09 billion in ‘significant strides’ in the quest to set up tional food and oil prices were seeping
same period last year, figures from Fidelity Printers the eight months to August 7, 2021, as in- an offshore financial services centre in Vic- into the domestic market.
and Refiners (FPR) showed. dustries shook-off the effects of a diffi- toria Falls. October 27
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) issues a cult 2020 to ship more products to the in- October 20 Government is told that no amount of
$50 dollar note, to add to the $2, $5, $10 and $20 ternational markets, according to Finance The Zimbabwe Dry Port facility at Walvis arrests of business people will solve vari-
notes which were already in circulation. minister Mthuli Ncube’s presentation to an Bay in Namibia is operating at between ous problems that have crippled the econ-
July 9 African Development Bank (AfDB) virtual 65% and 70% of capacity due to lack of omy.
Transport minister Felix Mhona appoints a six- meeting. support from the local business communi- October 28
member interim board for the struggling national October 15 ty, according to the company’s acting area Zimbabwe’s annual inflation surged to
airline, Air Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector es- manager Justy Moses. 54,49% in October, showing that prices
July 12 calates its push for State-assisted bailout October 21
A PROBE into forex auction system violations nets packages to stem a blazing crisis precipi-  TO PAGE 7
21 firms that have allegedly been dabbling in paral-
lel market activities according to the central bank.
August 3
Ten companies will take control of Zimbabwe’s
privatised gold refinery, Fidelity Printers and Refin-
ers (FPR), for US$49 million, according to Finance
minister Mthuli Ncube. This would be the first time
that the refinery will be in private hands since it was
established in 1988. The new shareholders would
own 60% of Fidelity while the Reserve Bank of Zim-
babwe (RBZ) retains the remaining 40%.
August 3
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube says China Exim
Bank has deployed US$37,5 million to fund the
rehabilitation and expansion of Robert Gabriel
Mugabe International Airport .
August 6
Qatar Airways lands in Zimbabwe today on its in-
augural flight to Harare, bringing hope to the lo-
cal tourism sector which has been battered by the
global pandemic, COVID-19.
August 15
Government begins hunting for $1,5 billion to fi-
nance its operations, with the Reserve Bank of Zim-
babwe (RBZ) approaching the market to invest in
two-year treasury bonds.
August 24
Zimbabwe’S banking sector, under fire from au-
thorities to help the central bank tackle a blazing
foreign currency crisis, grants United States dollar-
indexed overdrafts to exporters to ease a huge auc-
tion system backlog, according to Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya.
August 26
One of Zimbabwe’s biggest independent pow-
er projects (IPPs) approaches the Johannesburg-
based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to
arbitrate over a payment dispute with the State-run
Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution
Company (ZETDC).
September 9
The Victoria Falls Stock Exchange

(VFEX) signs a Memorandum
of Understanding (MoU) with
the Dubai Gold and Com-
modities Exchange (DGCX),
the region’s leading deriva-
tives exchange —to strength-
en bilateral co-operation as

well as exchange knowl-
edge around com-
modities trading.
As part of the
agreement, the
DGCX will ex-
tend techni-
cal support,
knowledge
and skills
to VFEX, a
subsidi-
ary of the
Zimbabwe
Stock Ex-
change
(ZSE),
with the
ultimate
aim of
estab-
lish-
ing an
inter-
nation-
al commodities ex-
change in Zimba-
bwe, according to a

COVER January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 7

data for 2021 part 2

 FROM PAGE 6 US$44,2 million to foreign creditors during Despite the travel restrictions an- uled annual
were rising faster, according to Zimbabwe Na- the nine months to September, as part of nounced by authorities, tourism resorts main- tenance.’
its refreshed debt repayment plan. are already fully booked ahead of the
tional Statistics Agency (Zimstat) data. Christmas holiday spurred by the 12 MONTHS
The rise represented nearly a three-percentage December 2 domestic market.
Zimbabwe’s local currency fell by nearly ZW 39,000.00
point move from 51,55% in September, and 50,24% 70% since the beginning of the year on the December 30
the previous month. parallel market, compared to about 30% Shelf space occupied by
on the official market, data from a leading domestic products shot to
November 1 advisory firm showed. 80% at the end of Novem-
The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) gained December 9 ber after industrial pro-
$286,760 billion in value during the third quarter A leading resources watchdog piles duction was boosted by
of 2021 due to inflation hedging activities and in- pressure on government to disclose the United States dollar in-
creased retail investors participation, a report by value of potential revenues it forfeits due jections from the for-
Old Mutual Investment Group Zimbabwe showed. to special tax incentives offered to attract eign currency auction
November 1 investment. system.
Zimbabwe’s banking sector says government December 9 December 31
must extend tax payment periods to twice a year to More than three quarters of business- Power utility Zesa
give industries breathing space after being affect- es across various sectors of the economy Holdings tells cus-
ed by pandemic-related headwinds. say the ease of doing business in Zimba- tomers that its pre-
Under current policy, companies pay taxes to the bwe was unfavourable as a result of policy paid electricity vend-
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority every quarter. inconsistencies and limited financing, ac- ing system will be
November 8 cording to a new survey. down going into the
The Australian firm exploring for gas and petro- December 17 New Year for ‘sched-
leum resources in Zimbabwe’s Muzarabani district
says the quality of data coming out of swathes of SUBSCRIBE
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Mthuli Ncube warns that Zimbabwe’s insurance
sector faces one of its toughest times, with geopo-
litical tensions and disruptions to business models
under the COVID–19 pandemic, among other are-
as of concern.
November 12
Calls grow for the government to review taxes
and duties levied on the telecoms industry to allow
the sector to weather viability challenges it faces.
November 16
Obsolete equipment is currently stifling the op-
erations of the pharmaceutical sector in Zimbabwe
amid concerns over the influx of cheap imported
drugs and counterfeit products on the market ac-
cording to research findings by Innocent Chirisa, a
professor at the University of Zimbabwe.
November 19
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John
Mangudya says the arrest of company directors for
contravening the Exchange Control Act last month
was never a “key result area” but a way of bringing

order on the market.
No- vember 26
Finance minister Mthu-
li Ncube presents a
$927,3 billion budget
with an ambitious
gross domestic
product growth
projection of
5,5% for 2022,
but former Fi-
nance minis-
ter Tendai Biti
dismissed it
as a “ritual-
istic formal-
ity bereft of
substance”.
Novem-
ber 29
President
Emmerson
Mnangag-
wa’s adminis-
tration paid

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OPINION January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 8

Active or passive investing?

TTAFARA MTUTU by the Wall Street Journal revealed global ex-US markets. Addition- Kong score highly on financial mar- to September, the fund achieved a
HE choice between ac- that, over a 15-year period ending al statistics from Morningstar also kets development while develop- 9-month return of 480,4% versus a
tive and passive man- in 2016, 82% of all actively man- show that 60% of emerging mar- ing countries like Zimbabwe, Mo- growth in the ZSE All Share Index
agement has stirred a aged US funds trailed their respec- kets equity funds in the Morning- zambique, and Burundi hold some of 423,8%. A factsheet of the fund
perpetual debate in the tive benchmarks. In addition, sta- star Diversified Emerging Markets of the lowest ranks among 140 sur- is available on Old Mutual Zimba-
field of asset manage- tistics from Morningstar show that Category beat the MSCI Emerging veyed countries. Financial market bwe’s website, and it is available on
ment. Active management is a style only 17% of the mutual funds in- Markets Index, and 64% of inter- development in this context in- the C-Trade platform.
of investing that focuses on out- cluded in the Morningstar US Large national equity mutual funds in the cludes efficiency, availability and
performing the market by employ- Blend Category outperformed the Morningstar Foreign Large-Blend affordability of financial services, fi- Along the spectrum of active
ing strategies such as short-selling, Russell 1000 Index for the five years Category beat the MSCI All-Coun- nancing through local equity mar- and passive investing is a combi-
leverage, quantitative methods, in- ending in try World kets, ease of access to loans, and nation of both active and passive
vesting in alternative assets such ex-US regulation of securities exchanges, investment styles. These styles of
as art and cryptocurrencies, and so Decem- According to the Index. among other factors. investing are common in actively
forth. When executed successfully, ber 2016. There managed exchange traded funds.
active management strategies can Latest fig- World Economic Fo- are sev- We opine that more efficient and These instruments attempt to beat
generate alpha, which is the excess ures from eral fac- deeper capital markets offer less the benchmark while boasting a
return of an investment relative to Bloomb- rum’s global com- tors that opportunities to earn alpha. The low-cost structure. Exposure to
the return of a benchmark index. erg re- could availability of financial instruments such an instrument in Zimbabwe
On the other end of the spectrum vealed that petitiveness rankings, explain such as swaps, futures, and op- is now possible through the new-
is passive management which fo- only three the stark tions in developed markets allow ly minted Morgan&Co Multi-Sec-
cuses on mimicking stock mar- hedge developed econo- differ- for efficient pricing mechanisms tor ETF. The ETF aims to earn al-
ket returns by closely tracking the funds ence be- in the underlying assets which re- pha for investors by taking long
benchmark index. global- mies such as the US, tween duce the volatility of the prices of positions in fundamentally under-
ly outper- hedge the underlying assets. This is com- valued sectors. The ETF is bench-
The obvious advantage of ac- formed the Canada, and Hong funds plemented by high capital mobil- marked against the ZSE All Share
tively managed portfolios is the S&P 500 in in the ity that limits opportunities for ar- Index and is readily available on C-
above-market returns. Howev- 2021. These Kong score highly on US and bitrage or riskless profits as well as Trade and ZSE.
er, poor execution of active port- numbers those ease of access to material informa-
folio management strategies can underpin financial markets de- in other tion in developed markets. This is At the other end of the spec-
lead to investment returns that fail the move- markets, not the case with many other capi- trum in passive investment, inves-
to beat the market. Passive man- ment of velopment while de- and we tal markets that are less developed. tors seeking to employ this port-
agement styles do not generate funds from opine Zimbabwe, for example, has very folio management style have the
returns in excess of the market but actively veloping countries like that two low capital mobility, fewer financial option to invest with Old Mutual’s
when they fail to beat the market, managed of them instruments, and high information Top Ten ETF that is also available
they are often closer to the bench- funds and Zimbabwe, Mozam- are the asymmetry that limit price discov- on C-Trade and ZSE. This ETF was
mark than actively managed port- into pas- efficien- ery and offer good ground for ac- launched in 2021 and it mimics the
folios. Passive investment strate- sively man- bique, and Burundi cy and tively managed portfolios to thrive. constituents of the ZSE Top Ten In-
gies take after their name and in- aged funds depth As a result, it is easier for funds in dex which are market-cap weight-
volve less trades in comparison to between hold some of the low- of capi- emerging and other international ed. These three instruments of-
active strategies. This opens active 2010 and tal mar- markets to beat their benchmarks fer an affordable way to reap mar-
portfolio management to higher 2020. est ranks among 140 kets. Ac- compared to funds invested in de- ket-related returns without getting
costs that stem from the relative- Armed cording veloped markets. into the nitty-gritty of investments
ly high volume of trades as well as with these surveyed countries. to the analysis such as; which counters to
other costs incurred in other active statistics, World In Zimbabwe, exposure to ac- invest in, when to invest in and out
strategies. many pro- Eco- tive management styles can be of stocks, minimising risk, and effi-
ponents through the equity fund offered by ciently diversifying a portfolio.
Although active management for passive nom- Old Mutual Zimbabwe. The fund
looks enticing for novice investors, management have been gain- ic Forum’s global competitiveness aims to provide capital growth Mtutu is a research ana-
its appeal in developed markets has ing traction over the years. How- rankings, developed economies over the medium-to-long term lyst at Morgan & Co Research.
waned in the last decade. An article ever, this has not been the case in such as the US, Canada, and Hong and uses the ZSE All Share Index — [email protected] or
as the benchmark. In the year 2021 +263 774 795 854.

OPINION January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 9

In ation’sbearingon2022 scalyear

TEBEN MABUNDA to 2022, the budget carries a risk of
HE December month-on- erosion of at least 50%, which means
month inflation came in at a budget position of US$4,8 billion
5,76%, maintaining the No- in present terms will be trimmed by
vember outturn, versus a 6,4% almost half by the end of the year.
October turnout. The nega- In essence, the budget levels for the
tive variance shows a runaway position, coming year are at par with post
outside the RBZ’s targeted level of dollarisation years where it aver-
5%. Year-on-year inflation registered aged about US$2,5 billion.
a marginal increase to 60,74% against
the November figure which stood at A lasting solution to the currency
58,40%. conundrum is the right antidote!

Annual inflation has been on a rise This article was written in collab-
over the four past consecutive months. oration with Rugare Mukanganga
Of note, inflation peaked in July of 2020
at 830%, before climbing down in suc- Eben Mabunda is an analyst and
cessive months up to July 2021. Granular TV anchor at Equity Axis, a leading
analysis of the CPI data shows that the financial research firm in Zimba-
increases recorded in November were bwe. — [email protected]
predominantly driven by the hospitality
sector, a seasonal spike. Other baskets
include food and alcohol, as well com-
munications, in line with tariff reviews.

Government initially anticipated an
annual inflation outturn of below 35%
by year end. In its most recent Mon-
etary Policy Statement, the RBZ said
it was now targeting a revised infla-
tion outturn of between 35% and 54%
by year end, up from the initial 10%
forecast. The recent 2022 Budget fore-
casted a 58% upper range projection
by year end with a recent Monetary
Policy Committee resolution expecting
a max of 60% at year end. All of these
targets were missed!
Forex auction
On the forex auction market, the Zim
dollar marginally appreciated against
the greenback for a third time this
quarter with the local unit gaining
0,002% against the American dollar at
the close of the most recent auction
trading week. Year to date, the ZW$
has depreciated by over 30% on the
formal market with most of the losses
incurred over the last three months be-
tween October and December. Equity
Axis, a leading financial research firm
views the recent depreciation on the
formal market as a deliberate move by
authorities.

The black-market rate, which is cur-
rently sailing north of 230, is trading
at premiums of over 90% to the for-
mal market. It goes without saying the
market is not as efficient and has been
subjected to the central bank’s tight
leash, controlling the supply side of the
market. The instability of the local cur-
rency has an overhanging effect on the
inflation matrix as pricing by local firms
is heavily premised on the greenback.
Reserve money
Preliminary RBZ estimates indicate
Zimbabwe’s Reserve Money (RM) grew
16,5% in the last quarter of 2021 rising
from ZW$24,36 billion (US$251 million)
in October to ZW$28,38 billion (US$263
million) as at December 17, 2021. Year-
to-date, base money has scaled-up
approximately 51,3% having ended
2020 at ZW$8,76 billion (US$230 mil-
lion). Notably, Zimbabwe’s liquidity
growth continues to outpace that of
domestic production, a trend likely to
fuel inflation acceleration in the months
that lie ahead.
2022 budget
Assuming a stable exchange of about
1:190, the 2022 budget was US$4,8 bil-
lion, versus a dollarisation average of
US$3,8 billion — a better off position.
Between 2014 and 2018, budget defi-
cits began to widen as far as 40%, which
meant spend could top US$8 billion in
some instances, such as in 2018.

In 2021 alone the currency lost over
30% on the formal market and close
to 80% on the informal market. This
means that ZW$ values set at the be-
ginning of the year were now grossly
eroded; 30% and 80% on the formal
and informal markets respectively.

Assuming this trend is carried over

FEATURE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 10

Omicron for Christmas: How rural

By Ian Scoones multiple cases have been reported, but way ple were sharing calabashes in communal the need for business.
THE Omicron wave peaked in Zimbabwe down on the situation a few weeks back. drinking sessions. Fear had receded of COVID, perhaps because
just before Christmas. With people moving
about for the festive season and large num- No deaths have been recorded in our The now familiar ‘bakosi’ markets were in of the experiences with Omicron in the previous
bers coming back from South Africa and sites in the past weeks. A few of our agricul- full swing across our study sites, especially weeks of relatives and others both in Zimbabwe
elsewhere for the holidays, the fear was that tural extension colleagues went down with in locations further south. and South Africa.
the spread would be dramatic, with dev- Omicron around Christmas, but they all iso-
astating consequences. Border restrictions lated and quickly recovered. These sprawling open air markets usual- Changing remedies and home treatments
were maintained, curfews imposed and the ly operate once a week and sell everything As we have reported many times before, local
lockdown was extended. A festive mood from food to clothes to hardware and more. remedies and home treatments have become
Although Omicron presented more un- the way people have coped. People fear quar-
As we reported in our last blog on 20 De- certainties to contend with for the holidays, Huge numbers attend, perhaps sever- antining and forced isolation now more than
cember, many had already reported that people across our study areas reported that al thousand at times, and of course are po- the disease.
the infection was proving relatively mild, a they were not going to be put off. tentially major infection hot spots. Because Omicron presents differently —
finding subsequently supported by hospi- People were in a festive mood, relatives more ‘flu-like symptoms, with a combination of
tal evidence from South Africa, the United had returned after a long gap and there But they also serve important econom- nose and throat congestion and a dry cough,
Kingdom and Denmark. were parties to be had. Many large gather- ic and social functions: they are places to rather than the impact on breathing and the
ings were reported, including the return of gather, to meet people, to exchange ideas chest as in previous waves — the treatments
And, just as the spread of Omicron was large church services. and goods, and are now an essential part have changed.
dramatic and fast, its decline has similarly In towns and business centres large of rural economic life, and no matter what The most recent, circulating widely on fam-
been sudden, although cases still persist. crowds gathered, bars were open and the potential risks people were not keeping ily WhatsApp groups, is a concoction of Coca-
there seemed to be little social distancing, away over the holidays. Cola and chilli, which is supposed to work won-
Across our sites in the last few weeks, there was reduced mask wearing and peo- ders.
Despite the caution of the public health Others reported include a mix of lemon,
authorities, the people were not going to let cooking oil and onion. And of course the full
the virus get in the way of a holiday mood or array of other herbal treatments we have dis-
cussed on this blog before.
The important point is though that with an
effectively new disease in Omicron, with dif-
ferent symptoms, people have experimented,
learned and shared new remedies – literally in
a matter of weeks.
Nurses in clinics across our sites reported that
it was a busy time over the holidays, but many

Revellers thronged the Guwini open air market in
Chikombezi during the Christmas festival

FEATURE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 11

Zim experienced the pandemic

THE important point is A Mvurwi man
though that with an at his nursery, re-
effectively new disease corded brisk busi-
ness selling lemon
in Omicron, with
different symptoms, trees because
of the COVID-19
people have
experimented, learned pandemic

and shared new
remedies – literally in a

matter of weeks.

were not coming to the clinics if they thought they
had COVID as they feared quarantine.

They would prefer to treat themselves at home,
while self-isolating. Having a variety of treatments
to hand people argue, is a more effective response.
It seemed that the nurses (informally) agreed as
they noted the problems in the public clinics.

A plural health system: fostering resilience
Meanwhile, public health interventions continue
focusing on vaccines. There was a big spike in vac-
cine take-up in the rural areas over the holiday pe-
riod.
This was apparently due to people coming home
from town, and choosing mobile rural clinics over
the urban ones where they normally live.
The rural alternatives were quicker, easier and
more accessible it seems. Even diaspora relatives
took up the opportunity, and many younger work-
ers from town were persuading their parents and
others to join them at the clinics.
During the pandemic a network of health profes-
sionals has emerged to support rural people’s re-
sponse to the disease.
These include of course the doctors, nurses, vac-
cinators and village health workers, part of the pub-
lic health system, but the wider health system also
includes herbalists (those with specialist knowl-
edge of particular herbs), n’angas (spirit mediums
with treatment powers), and family based health
specialists (often individuals within a wider family
recognised as especially knowledgeable).
And supporting them there are the wide range
of collectors of herbal products, those who process
them and the vendors who sell them, often with
street advice on how to prepare presses, teas or
other concoctions.
A plural health system has therefore emerged,
partly out of necessity as the public system is in-
adequate, but partly out of the need to respond
in a diversified way, recognising that many people
have expertise in a fast-changing pandemic set-
ting, and there is no one right way, especially as the
virus changes.
With such a plural system, innovation, learning
and sharing can happen quickly and effectively.
Some of the remedies may not work that well, but
others might, and people will respond accordingly.
In March 2020, right at the beginning of the pan-
demic, in the first contribution of this now long se-
ries on COVID responses in rural Zimbabwe, we ar-
gued that rural Zimbabwe might offer some lev-
el of resilience, having been able to manage tur-

bulence and uncertainty of different
sorts for many years, despite the ob-
vi- ous ‘fragility’ of the state.
Resilience is not a sin-
gle property; it is rela-
tional based on how
people, individually
and together, re-
spond to unfold-
ing events.
This requires
flexibility, re-
sponsiveness
and collec-
tive sharing. As
we have seen
now over nearly
two years, these
are all features that
have been central
to rural Zimbabwe’s
(largely informal) pan-
demic response

This story was originally
published on Zimbabweland.com

CLIMATE CHANGE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 12

The women fighting

Women in Lower Gweru have abandoned some of the arable land they used for market gardening due to limited water supply

MEVANS MATHANDA they eked a living through selling vege- programme assisted them to es- the best farmers,” Getrude Bonde, ject was their source of livelihood
XOTSHWA market gar- tables, tomatoes and cabbages. tablish a garden project in 2001. one of the beneficiary farmers said. as they would each realise at least
dens under Chief Mdu- US$10 every week from selling their
biwa in Lower Gweru, The purple patch they enjoyed “We really thank USAid through Back then, women, who make produce.
Midlands province used was courtesy of the United States CARE International for the gar- up the bulk of the farmers, would
to be the bread basket Agency for International Develop- den projects which they sponsored draw water 100 metres away from “I remember all farmers here
of the village, and several women bene- ment (USAid) through its Restoring through the food for work pro- Gwenjane River to irrigate their would work hard to ensure that
tted through market gardening where Livelihoods Programme, in partner- gram. It really changed our lives. crops. The river would flow all year their crops meet the demands
ship with Care International. The We used to have annual awards for round. To them, the garden pro-
 TO PAGE 13

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Harare: 6 Kaguvi St/Cnr Charter Rd-757037 Mutare: 16 Herbert Chitepo - 65978
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Bulawayo: 73 Fort Street - 886327

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v Chalks
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CLIMATE CHANGE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 13

climate change

of the market to get customers,” rights issue and a pandemic that
Bonde said. affects women more than men. It
However, changes in weather is women who walk long distances
patterns have brought new prob- to fetch water and do market gar-
lems. Their project is on the verge dening to sustain their families.
of collapse as Gwenjane River has Thandiwe Chidavarume, the
Women and Land Zimbabwe na-
dried up.
“Life has completely changed; tional coordinator said socially
living is now difficult without wa- constructed differences between
ter from Gwenjani River. We are men and women makes women
told that this is caused by climate more vulnerable to the negative
change. It’s a new phenomenon to impacts of climate change.
us. It has really stripped us of our “Women are the hardest hit by
source of livelihoods,” Sihle Moyo, the negative effects of climate
the deputy garden leader, told change because of the gender
NewsDay. roles ascribed to women by the
Project leader for Mxotshwa gar- societies. The government should
dens, Elizabeth Moyo said the wa- put irrigation infrastructure for
ter crisis has threatened the mar- poor women in rural Zimbabwe,”
ket gardening project, resulting in she said.
food insecurity. The COP26 climate change
“These two gardens are our only summit was regarded as a success
hope, but without water life has with regards to climate finance as
been very difficult,” she said. billions of US$ were set aside. But
“There are 80 households which the million-dollar question is how
are directly benefiting from gar- a woman in rural Lower Gweru can
den A which started in 2001, while stand to benefit from this confer-
100 families benefit from garden ence?
B which was formed in 2006. But Women and Law in Southern Af-
now we survive on buying dried rica (WLSA) said that female farm-
Kapenta fish for relish, which we ers in rural areas can only benefit
cannot afford,” she added. from the 2021 United Nations Cli-
For the Mxotshwa women, mar- mate Change Conference provid-
ket gardening during the off-rain ed that Zimbabwe has committed
season helped them to raise fees to the recommendations made
for their children, and also supple- during the summit.
mented their household incomes. “Zimbabwe committed that it
“I have five children whom I sent will reduce emissions by 40%,”
to school with money raised from WILSA said in a statement.
the market gardening, but now “Women in market gardening
I am struggling to raise fees for can only benefit after the Zim-
my two grandchildren. They pay babwe government has imple-
US$30 each mented the
COP26
per term, “Women in market recom-
which has menda-
become un- tions and
affordable,” gardening can only commit-
Susan Mfan- ments as
yana, one of benefit after the per agree-
the farmers ment. As
told News- Zimbabwe long as
Day. Zimbabwe
In 2008, government has does not
villagers honour
constructed implemented the the agree-
a dam pro- ments
ject which COP26 that were
was spon- made dur-
sored by recommendations ing the
Christian and commitments as COP26
Care through climate
“food for per agreement. As change
work pro- long as Zimbabwe summit,
grams”. does not honour the this won't
However, bene-
there was a agreements that were fit female
dam burst farmers in
after a cat- rural ar-
astrophic eas,” the
sudden, rap- made during the women
id, and un- organisa-
controlled COP26 climate tion said.
release of The
impounded United
water due to change summit, this Nations
heavy rains
that same 2021 Emis-
year. won’t benefit female sions Gap
Report
Proud Chi- farmers in rural areas.” shows
musoro who that new
is now an en-
gineer based nation-
al climate
in Lower Gweru
said that the dam was poorly con- pledges combined with other miti-
structed because there were no gation measures put the world on
skilled personnel and it was bound track for a global temperature rise
to collapse. of 2.7°C by the end of the centu-
“Gwenjani is a river, not a stream, ry. That is well above the goals of
and so the spillway was supposed the Paris climate agreement, and
to be at the centre,” Chimusoro would lead to catastrophic chang-
said. es in the Earth’s climate. There-
“The problem is that the local vil- fore, to keep global warming be- Gwelo said that women in farm- la said. Female farmers at Mxotshwa vil-
lagers were just blocking water in- low 1.5°C this century, the aspira- ing have little knowledge on how “We can talk about the effects lage are hoping to be rescued by
stead of digging down the dam so tional goal of the Paris Agreement, to adapt to the negative effects of the Smallholder Irrigation Revitali-
that it has a capacity to hold much the world needs to halve annual climate change, which is the major of climate change over and over zation Programme (SIRP), a seven-
water. A dam must have a capaci- greenhouse gas emissions in the problem that should be addressed. again, but I think the government year programme funded by Inter-
ty of which if that level is reached, next eight years. and other civil society organi- national Fund for Agricultural De-
water starts to spill,” he added. An acting headman Makhu- “Women should be educated on sations should create platforms velopment (IFAD), after they quali-
Climate change is also a human la under chief Mdubiwa in Lower what exactly climate change is, its meant to educate women in agri- fied to be part of the beneficiaries
impacts and how to adapt to its culture on how to adapt to climate in Lower Gweru.
unfavourable conditions,” Makhu- change conditions,” he said.

POLITICS January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 14

What are the options for Chamisa after
Postal In 1998, in Russia’s
St Petersburg, Oleg Ser- ty structures, membership and MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa
geyev ran for the Gov- identity. It does not extinguish the
ernor’s position. When Gweru Congress process outcome branding. This does not entail the of the party’s goals, core objectives, holes manipulated by opponents.
he officially launched held by the MDC Alliance in May formation of a new party but it is a principles and values and its ideol- The party organs might need to be
his campaign, to his chagrin there 2019. The branches, the wards, the surgical process that requires trans- ogy. This might require cleaning up repurposed in line with the new core
were two other opponents. Oppo- districts, the provinces, the Na- formation of substantive aspects of and waterproofing the constitution objectives. The secretariat might as
nent one was Oleg Sergeyev, op- tional Executive Committee (NEC), the party. It means a strategic review to avoid unnecessary legal loop- well need a complete overhaul un-
ponent two was Oleg Sergeyev. the National Standing Committee
On voting day, voters were unsure (NSC) and the President remain the
which Sergeyev they were vot- same. Inter alia there is no freezing
ing for. For students of politics, it of current party systems. In this re-
was therefore not a shock when gard, the next congress date, un-
in authoritarian Zimbabwe, Mor- less varied by an extraordinary
gen Komichi, the chairperson of congress, remains earmarked for
the splinter MDC-T led by Douglas 2024. This option does not provide
Mwonzora announced on 24 Oc- room for those that see an oppor-
tober 2020 that his party was go- tunity to grab power for the sake
ing to contest in future elections of power at every opportunity of
as MDC Alliance. Yet MDC Alliance change. On the other hand, it does
is led by Nelson Chamisa, who has not give room for consolidation of
used that name in polls since the power by cliques. Party members
2018 general election. So MDC Al- can still make claims to the par-
liance, like Sergeyev of Russia, fac- ty’s historical legacy, the memory,
es opponent number two as MDC blood and pain of the past. There
Alliance at the nomination court is some degree of continuity under
for by elections on January 26, by this option. When faced with a Ser-
elections voting day on 26 March geyev crisis, the late founding Pres-
and the subsequent general elec- ident of the MDC, Morgan Tsvan-
tion constitutionally due in 2023. girai, had to relabel from MDC to
What then are the political op- MDC- T in 2008. However, the po-
tions? I am not here to be overly litical stakes are higher at this his-
prescriptive but to lay the basis for toric juncture and the post-coup
democratic debate. militarised party-state is bent on
eliminating Chamisa and his par-
The first option for Chamisa’s ty. Therefore, what is likely to be at
MDC Alliance is party relabelling. the centre of legal contestation is
Party relabelling means the con- the name MDC. Prefixes or Suffixes
tinuation of the same party but un- to it — such as MDC C or MDC Z —
der a new label. Therefore, the re- might not resolve the conundrum,
labelled party is not a brand new hence the need for a new way of
party. For this reason, party rela- relabelling.
belling does not reconfigure par-
The second option is party re-

ELECTORAL ACT [CHAPTER 2:13]
ELECTION NOTICE

LOCAL AUTHORITY BY-ELECTIONS

WHEREAS it is provided in terms of section 278 of the Constitution that the seat of a local FIRST SCHEDULE
authority becomes vacant in the circumstances set out in section 129 as if he or she were a VACANCIES OCCASIONED BY RECALLS
member of Parliament, the seats of councillors listed in the First Schedule have become Harare Metropolitan Province
vacant by reason of the councillors having ceased to belong to the political party which they
were members when elected to the local authority; Local Authority Ward Cause Party Vacancy Date
24/11/2020
AND WHEREAS it is provided that upon being notified of a vacancy in terms of 1 Epworth Local Board 4 Recall of Chatambudza Kudakwashe MDC-A 24/11/2020
subsection (1) of section 121 of the Electoral Act [Chapter 2:13] the Commission shall publish 2 Epworth Local Board 6 Recall of Masunda Batanai MDC-A
a notice in accordance with section 121A(2)
SECOND SCHEDULE
AND WHEREAS the Commission has received notification, in writing, of vacancies in VACANCY OCCASIONED BY DEATH
Epworth Local Board due to the recall of councillors who ceased to belong to the political
party which they were members when elected to the respective local authority; Midlands Province Ward Cause Party Vacancy Date
1 ZANU PF 5/01/2022
ANDWHEREAS the Commission has also received notification, in writing, of a vacancy in Local Authority Death of Nyenyesa Antone a
Takawira RDC due to the death of the sitting councillor specified in the Second Schedule; 1 Takawira RDC S.

NOW THEREFORE the Commission hereby notifies the public of the vacancies that have THIRD SCHEDULE
so arisen as specified in the First and Second Schedule.The public is further notified that: NOMINATION COURT VENUES

(a) The nomination courts for purposes of receiving nominations of candidates for Harare Metropolitan Province
election as councillors for the vacant wards shall sit on Wednesday 26 January
2022 commencing from 10:00hours to 16:00 hours; Epworth Local Board Epworth Local Board Coffee Pomerai
Midlands Province Takawira RDC Boardroom Dzimiri Maria
(b) The nomination courts shall sit at the places designated in the Third Schedule for Takawira RDC
the purposes of receiving nominations of candidates for election as councillors for
the wards in the stated local authorities and shall be presided over by the
nomination officers stated therein;

© Saturday, the 26th day of March 2022 has been fixed as the day on which a poll
shall be taken if a poll becomes necessary in terms of section 125(4)(b) of the
Electoral Act.

POLITICS January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 15

the despotic capture of MDC Alliance?

der rebranding in order to streamline with the new new, dynamic and competent leader- a new party is seen as a radical and risky en the balance of political forces in Zimba-
strategic focus. In other words, if a collective decision ship unchained to orthodoxy, which will step that might simply destroy the op- bwe today.
is taken to rebrand Chamisa’s MDC Alliance, it must not merely hitch-hike old ideas but ush- position. MDC is embedded in the politi-
not just be about the change of a name. The result er in fresh big ideas with renewed energy. cal marketplace for 22 years. There are also Under normal democratic conditions,
should be a total refurbished party so that it is pre- However, it is common to see actors who sentimental and emotional attachments to parties do not make significant changes
sented to the people in a new and pulchritudinous will not make it in new parties, get disap- the name especially by the older genera- such as relabelling, rebranding, creating
form. This is a time-consuming process. Given that pointed at the shattering of their dreams tion. new identities because political parties
politics is fluid and moving very fast, one can rela- and form splinter parties to restore a sta- are largely conservative in nature. Howev-
bel as a first step to deal with the immediate ques- tus quo ante. This can plunge the opposi- The history of struggle, pain, blood and er, internal or external shocks can break the
tions of the day like how to register candidates at the tion into the old cycle of splits. This option memory are embedded in the name. In status quo and trigger the need to weigh
nomination court set for 26 January 2022 and re- is a long term gamble and a rushed rally to addition, the legacy of Tsvangirai is part- options as part of strategic insulation and
brand thereafter. launch a new party will not suffice espe- ly embedded in the name. The Mwonzo- self-preservation especially in authoritar-
cially ahead of the by-elections. ra effect is also considered as a tempo- ian contexts bent on annihilating the op-
Before we move to the third and fourth options rary inconvenience that will crumble in due position. The shock therapy here is despot-
here is a question. What are the prospects of the The fourth option is to maintain the par- course. The idea is to fight for the retention ic-capture of the name MDC Alliance. The
masses resonating with relabelling and rebranding ty name as is. The logic is based on an as- legally and politically and allow the polit- MDC Alliance, like Sergeyev of Russia, fac-
in the Zimbabwean context? I think they are high. sumption that the MDC Alliance is a strong ical burden and responsibility on Mwon- es opponent number two as MDC Alliance.
Why? Zimbabwe has a politically hyper active so- brand with long term political exposure. zora and Mnangagwa the autocratic Pres- In the event of a shock therapy of this na-
ciety. There are strong levels of political attention Even a person with a remote interest in ident of Zimbabwe as part of a total de- ture, history has taught us that partial rath-
among the electorate so the changes will not evade politics knows that the MDC is Zimbabwe’s legitimisation strategy. So all things being er than wholesale changes have signifi-
the curious public eye. From the history of splits, main opposition party. It has long term ex- equal (ceteris paribus), all players would cantly yielded more positive electoral ef-
posure both locally and internationally. As want to keep their name and fight to the fects. My modest contribution to the dem-
Zimbabwean voters have predominantly utilised a result, relabelling, rebranding or forming end. However, this might be foolhardy giv- ocratic debate is stated. I am out.
personalistic signals in identifying parties and mak-
ing voting decisions, therefore they are able to re-
orient to a relabelled or rebranded party more eas-
ily. Voters can identify the party under a new la-
bel or brand by simply checking out its leaders. Is
Chamisa there, are his deputies, Lynette Karenyi-
Kore, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube there, and
is the national chairperson Thabitha Khumalo there
including her deputy Job Sikhala and the secretary
general Charlton Hwende as well as treasurer gen-
eral David Coltart. By looking at who the leaders are,
that is whether the leaders remain in the party, vot-
ers would associate easily.

In addition, the MDC Alliance is a less institution-
alised party system, an embedded weakness but
one which makes it less arduous to change based
on the weak party hypothesis. Finally, the larger de-
mographics of the voting population are the young
with less sentimental value to the old ways of do-
ing things.

Now the third option will entail forming a new par-
ty. A new party has to break orthodoxy and think
afresh to be presented in a pulchritudinous form.
This is a laborious process because it is not about
trying to resurrect the MDC through reanimating the
Tsvangirai days. A new party needs to think about big
problems in a fresh way and come up with new big
ideas.

One cannot just jerry-build ideas from the previ-
ous era. Continuity with the noble ideas can be valu-
able, but it is not enough to build a new party. This
will require a competent infrastructure to develop
new ideas followed by building a national movement
with presence in every corner of Zimbabwe to ad-
vance the new big ideas. This is important because
durable new parties have to start from the bottom
up around a popular big idea. Even if you capture
voters’ attention around the charismatic Chamisa,
he has to stand for a genuine national movement ris-
ing from the people.

A new party implies an inaugural congress which
might produce an entirely new leadership from the
current presidium to the branches. There is no guar-
an- tee, for example, that all the current

deputies, national chairperson,
Secretary General, Treasur-
er General et cetera will
be retained. It might
be determined by
a whole different
party structure,
constitution, par-
ty roots in socie-
ty, membership,
ideology and
identity. For
a new par-
ty will tech-
nically freeze
the Gweru Con-
gress and usher
in a new birth-
day. The out-
come is a double
edged sword.
This process
can pilot
a

FEATURE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 16

Man gets pig heart transplant in world first

JULIE STEENHUYSEN on xenotransplantation – trans-
planting animal organs into hu-
CHICAGO — A US man with ter- mans.
minal heart disease was implant- About 110,000 Americans are cur-
ed with a genetically modified pig rently waiting for an organ trans-
heart in a first-of-its-kind surgery, plant, and more than 6,000 pa-
and three days later the patient is tients die each year before getting
doing well, his doctors reported on one, according to organdonor.gov.
Monday. Bennett’s genetically modified
The surgery, performed by a team pig heart was provided by Revivi-
at the University of Maryland Med- cor, a regenerative medicine com-
icine, is among the first to demon- pany based in Blacksburg, Virginia.
strate the feasibility of a pig-to-hu- On the morning of the surgery, the
man heart transplant, a field made transplant team removed the pig’s
possible by new gene editing tools. heart and placed it into a special
If proven successful, scientists device to preserve its function un-
hope pig organs could help allevi- til the surgery.
ate shortages of donor organs. Pigs have long been a tantalizing
“This was a breakthrough sur- source of potential transplants be-
gery and brings us one step closer cause their organs are so similar to
to solving the organ shortage crisis. humans. A hog heart at the time of
There are simply not enough do- slaughter, for example, is about the
nor human hearts available size of an adult human heart.

to meet the long list of “IT Other organs
potential recipients,” from pigs being
Dr. Bartley Griffith, was either
who surgically researched for
transplanted transplanta-
tion into hu-
the pig heart die or do this mans in-
into the pa- clude kid-
tient, said neys, liver
in a state- and lungs.
Prior ef-
transplant. I wantment. forts at
“We are
pig-to-
to live. I know it’s aproceed- human
ing cau- transplants
tiously, but shot in the dark,
we are also
optimistic but it’s my last have failed
that this first- because of
genetic dif-
in-the-world choice.” ferences that
surgery will pro- caused organ re-
vide an important
new option for pa- jection or viruses that
posed an infection risk.
tients in the future,” Grif- Scientists have tackled that
fith added.
For 57-year-old David Bennett of problem by editing away potential-
Maryland, the heart transplant was ly harmful genes.
his last option. In the heart implanted in Ben-
“It was either die or do this trans- nett, three genes previously linked
plant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot with organ rejection were “knocked
in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” out” of the donor pig, and six hu-
Bennett said a day before his sur- man genes linked with immune ac-
gery, according to a statement re- ceptance were inserted into the pig
leased by the university. genome.
Researchers also deleted a pig
To move ahead with the experi-
mental surgery, the university ob- gene to prevent excessive growth
tained an emergency authorization of the pig heart tissue.
from the US Food and Drug Admin- The work was funded in part
istration on New Year’s Eve through with a $15.7 million research grant
its compassionate use programme. to evaluate Revivicor’s genetical-
“The FDA used our data and data ly-modified pig hearts in baboon
on the experimental pig to author- studies.
ize the transplant in an end-stage In addition to the genetic chang-
heart disease patient who had es to the pig heart, Bennett re-
no other treatment options,” said ceived an experimental anti-rejec-
Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin, who tion drug made by Kiniksa Pharma-
heads the University’s programme ceuticals based in Lexington, Mass.

FEATURE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 17

How place of birth
shapes chances of

going to varsity

MANY newly independent Afri- ing on the administrative struc- versity systems. During this period, ed. As a result, university graduates ly dom- i-
can countries in the 1960s inherit- ture of the country. In Ghana for in- the rate of university expansion re- are increasingly concentrated in nated
ed regional and ethnic inequalities stance, people were grouped into duced. University access became the cities. University students tend by peo-
in formal educational attainment. the country’s ten regions, while in increasingly competitive. This end- to be the children of the highly ed- ple born
These new states bound togeth- Kenya they were grouped into the ed the period of regional conver- ucated – they’re in turn more likely and
er sub-national regions of diverse country’s 47 current counties. gence in university enrolment. Re- to gain higher education. This per- raised
ethnic and religious communities. gional inequalities in university ac- petuates the concentration of the in the
The regions differed in their ex- By grouping people by age cess began to grow again. highly skilled. main,
posure to missionary activity – the bracket, and assuming that most mul-
main vector in the spread of for- people who attend university do so My analysis found that those The slightly better news is that ti-eth-
mal western education in the colo- around age 20, I could then trace best placed to access the highly because cities tend to be ethnical- nic urban
nial era. how the regional distribution of competitive university system were ly mixed, the growing urban bias centres.
university education changed over increasingly those students born does not seem to have resulted in
Inequalities in educational ac- time. in the main cities where incomes a sharp increase in ethnic inequal- — The
cess increased the higher up the were higher and parents more ed- ity in university education. In three Conversa-
educational ladder one climbed. Slow start ucated. Measures of regional in- countries (Ghana, Malawi and
Access to university education was University education was slow to equality with the exclusion of the Uganda) the censuses also asked tion
both extremely limited and highly develop across these former British capital cities show there was no or respondents to state their ethnic-
skewed. colonies. The share of the popula- very little growth in regional ine- ity. Using these self-reported eth-
tion attending university in the late quality since the 1980s. This shows nicities, I measured ethnic in-
As access to higher education colonial era was extremely low. that most of the inequality rise was equality by cohort. I found
determined which people would Around the time of independ- driven by the capital city region. much less inequality growth
come to hold some of the most im- ence, Kenya had roughly 400 uni- on an ethnic compared to a
portant positions in society, politi- versity students (1961), while Tanza- In the 1990s many African coun- regional basis.
cians cared a great deal about how nia and Zambia had 300 students tries reformed their university sys-
higher education spread. Given this each (1963). The distribution of tems again by introducing or rais- Since migration is a major
context, how did regional inequali- these scarce educational opportu- ing fees. They also allowed more driver of this regional dif-
ties in university access evolve after nities was regionally skewed. Uni- private universities to establish ferentiation, this trend will
independence? versity attendance tended to be themselves. This increased the probably continue unless
highest among those growing up number of students that could be there’s more economic de-
While several recent papers have in the main cities and in the regions educated and led to the rapid rise velopment and more job
highlighted considerable social in- with the most economic produc- in university enrolment. But from creation outside the main
equalities in access to higher ed- tion (particularly cash crops and the available data it seems that re- urban centres. This implies
ucation in African countries today, mining). gional inequalities in university ac- that the face of Africa’s ed-
there’s little work that looks at how This historical legacy has been cess have remained high or risen ucational high-achievers
and why such inequalities have long lasting. On average, the re- further. is changing. From a slim
changed over time. gions with higher than average educational elite of the
university attainment in the 1960s Concentrated in cities 1970s, where most uni-
In a recent paper I therefore continue to have higher university There are many reasons for this versity-educated people
traced the regional origins of uni- attainment rates today. continued growth in inequality in had rural or small-town
versity graduates since the 1960s in Trends in access access. The most important factor roots, the highest edu-
seven African countries: Botswana, But the picture is not all bleak. is one that’s difficult for policymak- cated ranks are increas-
Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, In the first decades of independ- ers to address. The census data ing-
Uganda and Zambia. I construct- ence there was some catching-up shows that the focus countries
ed a measure of regional inequal- by some of the lower performing have a considerable rate of ru-
ity for each country and examined regions within each country. The ral-urban migration. These
some of the factors that influenced regional inequality trend for each migrants are a small
this inequality trend. of the seven countries shows that share of the univer-
inequality fell in most countries in sity educat-
The results show that regional the 1960s and 1970s. In this pe-
inequality fell in the first two dec- riod the number of univer-
ades of independence. However, sity students was growing
from the 1980s regional inequality quite rapidly. Bursaries for
remained stagnant or grew across students were generous
this group of countries. Inequality and governments made
grew primarily because the main some efforts to ensure
urban metropolises have been regional balance.
pulling ahead, leading to a grow- In the 1980s many Afri-
ing urban bias in university access. can countries ran into fi-
nancial difficulties. Gov-
I used recent census data which ernments struggled to fi-
contains information about where nance their largely public uni-
people were born and what lev-
el of education they attained. I
grouped these people by their dis-
trict or province of birth, depend-

COLUMN January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 18

Why Mugabe Selfish rulers,
honours are awkward another Rotina and

unfolding tragedy
along Limpopo

THE Zanu PF politburo has en- What’s happening along the Limpopo
dorsed the results of the recently River must be very gratifying for our leaders.
held cutthroat elections for pro- Hundreds upon hundreds of our people are
vincial chairpersons. That was to trying to escape all the happiness that our
be expected. What is that gran- rich country is providing to that bad country
diose where
body an- Tidbits they are
yway but called
a group mak-
of peo- werek-
ple ready were
and are
to rubber- burnt
stamp the on the
wishes of Twitter: @MuckrakerZim stake
No. 1?
But in like
spite of the endorsement, it was made clear witches.
that the ruling party is hardly the united all- Several are drowning in the long riv-
conquering machine it purports to be. The er. Nothing, not a word from our owner on
elections, commentators say, showed just what he intends to do to stop people from
The late former President Robert Mugabe how wide the rift between No. 1 and No. 2 leaving the land of milk and honey.
is. It was clear No. 2 has made major inroads And, what is that august body called
MBY DOCTOR STOP IT collapse in such a manner. in the provinces and the elections showed Sadc saying about it? This week the lead-
y Dear People, Obviously, the easy excuse is that Covid-19 he could challenge for the leadership of the ers of this section of our continent are as-
I hope you had rest- party any time soon. sembling virtually in Lilongwe. If they cared
ful holidays and for once made it difficult for education to continue Remember, calls for an elective congress a hoot about what’s happening in Mozam-
you forgot about the peo- last year. are simmering underground. But No. 1, with bique, they would be able to see the pos-
ple that pretend to rule you a straight face and the usual trademark sible beginnings of another Cabo Delgado
when all they do is loot. However, they won’t say why Covid-19 did gap-toothed smile, has lived to fight an- between the Zambezi and the Limpopo.
not stop Launchmore’s rallies that were held other day. How much longer he will stand is Cabo Delgado is happening because the
The year started with the government every other two days. open to conjecture. people there are dying poor in the middle
postponing the opening of schools indefi- But is No. 2 ready to rule? Some would of plenty. The region in northern Mozam-
nitely because of a “rise” in Covid-19 cases, These ones prioritised politics at the ex- say, not yet! Not before he has sorted out bique is known for its riches, but only for-
a laughable excuse if you ask me. pense of education and in the process they the mess in his backyard. If the way he is rul- eigners are enjoying them, hence the insur-
are creating a generation that is uneducated ing his household is the way he intends to gency.
I am really beginning to not understand but sits for examinations almost religiously. rule out teapot, then we have every reason Same as in Zimbabwe, people are run-
this Covid-19 thing, at first it was straight- to get worried. Very worried. ning away from poverty in a country so-
forward; avoid large gatherings and groups A bit like our elections kkk; they are held Everyone should baulk at the way he well-endowed of riches. How much longer
to prevent it, but now it seems it is selective. regularly as and when they are due, but they has treated his es- will they stand it?
can never be said to be democratic. Another Rotina
Zanu PF recently held elections across the tranged wife Mar- What’s happening What exactly is happen-
country and Covid-19 was not raised as an The government has to rethink its attitude ry and the children along the Limpopo ing in Muzarabani? Everyday
issue. towards education because we are creating he has denied ac- River must be very Zimbabweans read stories
an illiterate generation and that is very dan- cess to their moth- about near breakthroughs in
The country cannot hold by-elections but gerous for the country’s future. er. It seems he that area. They read about
Zanu PF can go ahead with its internal elec- knows next to noth- the possibilities of the discov-
tions. You see my problem with Covid-19. I see the government has come up with ing about soft pow- ery of vast wells of oil and gas.
the Robert Gabriel Mugabe Commendation er, yet it is soft power gratifying for our But some say Muzarabani is
Nero tried to distribute goods to the el- Award for Service in Human Capital Devel- leaders. Hundredsthat endears leaders just another Chinhoyi and In-
derly but was told there was Covid-19, but opment and I can’t wrap my head around victus just another Rotina Ma-
Profit Java is allowed to gather hundreds of what the big idea here is. to their subjects. vhunga.
people without anyone raising the C word What if ...?
— I mean coronavirus — get your mind out One moment, they describe Baba as a So the by-elec- upon hundreds of
of the gutter kkk. dictator, a person who brought sanctions on
Zimbabwe and someone who had to be de- tion dates have been our people are Others say there is no oil
It really doesn’t make sense that Covid-19 posed by a coup, yet on the other they name set through anoth- there and everyone knows
discriminates along party lines and Zanu PF an award after him. trying to escape all it. They allege that what is
gatherings are spared. er Statutory Instru- the happiness that at stake is in fact the yellow
This feels a bit dishonest for me; they ment! Good and fair. our rich country is metal which is in abundance
Even schools have to be closed to reduce should choose whether they want to de- there and is already finding its
Covid-19 cases, but Zanu PF functions pro- monise Baba or honour him. Muckraker expects way out of the country, pre-
ceed as planned. another statutory in- sumably to Oz.
Sisi Oppah described Baba as a traitor, so strument soon. This Whatever the truth may be,
Last year, at the height of the Omicron why should an award be named after Baba. time it will proclaim
variant, Launchmore held his functions re- that those who were providing to that time will tell.
gardless of Covid-19 regulations, yet schools Also, don’t forget that these are the same bad country whererecalled from parlia- While still in Muzarabani,
opening has to be deferred indefinitely. people that want to disturb Baba’s rest by why would anyone be explor-
exhuming him and burying him in a place ment and from local ing fossil fuels which face a
Speaking of education, normally schools that he refused to be buried at. government cham-
would be re-opening this week, but up to bers cannot stand in they are called
now, Grade 7 results are yet to be released, Baba described these people as his tor-
meaning it’s not possible to have a Form 1 mentors and did not want anything to do the elections. Eve- ‘makwerekwere’ ban due to their effects on cli-
intake. with them. If he was alive, I know he would ryone fears the hu- mate change? Invictus, which
refuse to have his name associated with this is said to be quoted on the
This has never happened in the history of award. and are burnt onmiliation that could Australian Stock Exchange,
this country. This is literally the height of in- should know the futility of this
competence. If they are trying to appease Baba, it’s too come with these by- better than everyone else.
late, the damage was long done. elections.
Baba was an educationist and would What if the former the stake like Warriors fears
have never let this happen. But this lot have Will my family be part of this charade? MPs and councillors And now to our dear War-
no regard for education and this is why this Wait and see kkk. are re-elected? No. witches. riors! Our dear son-in-law has
is happening. 1’s heroic attempt
I saw raging debate on voter registration to kill the opposi- remained adamant that the
On the other hand, pupils are still sitting figures and I thought my people were miss- national football controlling
for their ordinary and advanced levels that ing the forest for the trees. tion will be left lying
were supposed to be completed in 2021, in shards on the floor. Poor Doggie would body Zifa remains fired despite well-known
but will now be written this year. A high voter turnout is bad for the party in have so much egg in the face he could just rules of the International Football Federa-
power, so they will do their utmost best to take a rope and tie himself to a tall tree and tion that governments don’t interfere in the
Can someone explain to me how we have suppress voter registration and the number kick away the bucket. running of football. What this means is that
degenerated into such. Baba made sure of newly registered voters. Polad too would be revealed to be the our national football team might be chucked
Zimbabwe was one of the most literate great idea it is. But, if the just-ended ruling out of the biennial jamboree. Our boys are
countries in the world and now his work is If you believe that only 2 000 people reg- party elections are anything to go by, the already in Cameroon.
being reversed by people that have no idea istered to vote in 2021, then you will believe by-elections will be as peaceful as any war Imagine the humiliation if they are told to
on the importance of education. anything. ZEC must be challenged on these could be. get on the plane and leave. Cry, the cursed
figures rather than a situation where people country.
For them, literacy and intellectualism are spend days debating those figures. Limpopo tragedy
subservient to military power and force, this
is why they allow the education system to Put plainly, those figures aren’t true and
the rigging has started.

Stop it!
Munopengaaaaaa
Dr Amai (PHD Fake)

AFRICA January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 19

Africa’s
coups
and the
role of
external
actors

Joseph Siegle interventions, and distractions of power. In exchange for its sup- wouldn’t be in the interests of Ma- who have come to power by break-
THE 82 coups Africa experienced international actors with internal port, the Sudanese junta is likely to lian citizens, but it would enhance ing the rules — be it through coups
between 1960 and 2000 were dev- crises and the pandemic, among grant Russia naval port access to Russian leverage. or by evading term limits — tend
astating for the continent — con- others. Port Sudan, giving Moscow a mili- not to moderate but to act with es-
tributing to the instability, corrup- tary foothold in the important Red Ways International democratic calating impunity.
tion, human rights abuses, impu- This pattern underscores the Sea corridor. Wagner interests will actors can mitigate coups The flip side of providing in-
nity, and poverty that character- critical role that regional and inter- also continue to operate in west- centives for Africa’s democratiz-
ized many African countries during national actors play in mitigating ern Sudan in support of gold and The most significant action the ers is the need to consistently im-
that era. Coups, moreover, are con- coups. What is a coup, after all, but other illicit trafficking through the international democratic commu- pose real costs on coup makers.
tagious. A successful coup signifi- some military actors claiming that Central African Republic. nity can take to reverse the trend of Those who seize power extrale-
cantly increases the probability of they are the sovereign representa- coups in Africa is to incentivise de- gally should not be recognised. Fi-
subsequent coups — in that coun- tives of that state? To be sustained, In Mali, pro-Russian disinforma- mocracy. African governments that nancial assistance and debt relief
try as well as its neighbours. coups need to be recognised. If in- tion campaigns had disparaged commit to and uphold democratic should be suspended. Coup lead-
ternational actors refuse to do so, the authority of democratically practices should merit significant- ers should have their assets frozen
The recent spate of coups in Af- then the putschists are political- elected President Ibrahim Boubac- ly greater diplomatic support, de- and denied access to the interna-
rica, therefore, is bad news. In the ly isolated — further compound- ar Keita in the year preceding the velopment and security assistance, tional financial system. Coup-in-
past two years there have been ed when they are denied access August 2020 coup. This messaging and promotion of private invest- stalled governments should be de-
coups in Mali (twice), Chad, Guinea, to a state’s sovereign financial ac- contributed to the opposition pro- ment. While Africa’s democratiza- nied access to sovereign accounts.
Sudan, Tunisia, and, arguably, Al- counts. tests against Keita that were used tion wave of the 1990’s and 2000’s The posture should be to first walk
geria and Burundi—many of which as a justification for the coup. Sev- was led by domestic reformers, back the coup, then negotiate, not
were navigating democratic transi- International actors, in short, eral members of the junta had pre- there were clear international in- vice-versa.
tions. This variant of the coup bug have a critical role in validating viously studied in Russia. centives for adapting democrat- By ensuring there are stringent
can be traced back to the coups in coups. By treating coups as un- ic norms. International democrat- costs on coup leaders, internation-
Egypt and Zimbabwe a few years fortunate but normal means of To compensate for their lack of ic actors need to recommit them- al democratic actors can also help
earlier. That means nearly 20 per- transferring power in Africa, inter- domestic legitimacy, coup makers selves to these norms by building a balance the scales domestically.
cent of African countries have suc- national actors inadvertently pro- crave international validation. This more unified posture in sustaining Protests and widespread civil dis-
cumbed to coups since 2013. The vide coup leaders a helping hand gives external authoritarian ac- opposition to coups. obedience from citizens who re-
continent, thus, risks hurtling back across the finish line to consolidate tors more leverage to compromise ject the unconstitutional seizure
to bad old days of military misgov- their putsch. a state’s sovereignty. The coup in This diplomatic effort needs to of power can escalate pressure on
ernance — a period often remem- Mali, for example, has led the junta actively engage the African Un- coup leaders. International dem-
bered for its “lost decades.” Coup lords to consider inviting in Russian mer- ion and Regional Economic Com- ocratic actors, therefore, must be
The United Arab Emirates, Sau- cenaries, an action that would dra- munities, each of which have their careful they do not inadvertently
International actors failing to up- di Arabia, and Egypt have viewed matically reshape Ma- own democracy charters, to affirm undercut this domestic resistance
hold norms around coups African coups as a means of en- lian security and these norms. Much of the public by recognising a coup, effective-
hancing their regional ambitions. foreign policy. reaction and coordination of inter- ly providing legitimacy where it is
Coups are ultimately cold-eyed They have been actively sponsor- The effect of national responses to a coup oc- otherwise absent.
calculations of benefits vs. costs. ing the Sudanese military’s bid to such a deci- curs through these regional bod- External powers that are finan-
The upsides are fabulous—power hold onto power. They have also sion, taken cially or politically propping up
and unbridled access to state re- been busy behind the scenes in by unelect- ies. If African regional institu- coup leaders must also face costs.
sources. The allure of a coup, con- emboldening and providing cover ed military tions are clear in condemning In addition to blocking the demo-
sequently, will always exist. The po- to Kais Saied’s auto-golpe in Tuni- officers op- a coup, it is far easier for the in- cratic aspirations of millions of Af-
tential downsides — failure or im- sia. Preventing an Arab democra- erating out- ternational democratic com- ricans, these actors are effective-
prisonment — are likely viewed as cy from taking root also side a con- munity to rally behind that po- ly undermining a rules-based in-
manageable for unconstrained blunts any reformist sition. ternational system while reaping
military actors under a civilian ad- momentum these stitutional the benefits from it. These costs
ministration. Those who mount Gulf states might framework International democratic ac- should be reputational and finan-
coups, in short, do so because they face to open their and absent tors may rationalise that, once a cial. Naming and shaming can
believe they can get away with it, own highly restric- public ac- deepen antipathy towards these
with minimal costs. tive governance coup has occurred, the best
structures. counta- that can be done is to main-
Under the Organisation of Af- Russia has also bility, tain engagement in the
rican Union’s policy of non-inter- been actively sup- hope of encourag-
ference, coup plotters didn’t need porting coups in Af- ing gradual re- external spoilers and limit their re-
to worry about external costs. The rica. Often working form over time. gional influence. This should be ac-
plethora of coups during this era through the Wag- The prob- companied by curtailed security
demonstrates the open invitation ner mercenary lem with cooperation, constrained access to
to military takeovers created by this group, Moscow this ap- Western markets and financial net-
posture. The African Union’s shift has maintained a proach works, and sanctions under the Eu-
to a policy of non-indifference at close relationship is that ropean or Global Magnitsky Acts
its creation in 2000 fundamental- with the military lead- and Global Fragility Act.
ly altered this calculation, subject- throughout Su- ers
ing a junta to potential suspension, dan’s demo-
sanctions, and the threat of inter- cratic transi- This is not just a moral stance but
vention. These costs were further tion and re- one that contributes to a more sta-
amplified by penalties from West- portedly ble and prosperous Africa that can
ern democracies and international agitated yield more reliable security and
organizations. for it to economic partners. Africa’s autoc-
seize racies are responsible for over 75
The recent rise in coups in Africa percent of the continent’s conflicts,
(a pattern not observed in other re- forced migration, and food crises.
gions) reflects a waning in region- If the West wants to help stem the
al and international actors’ willing- flow of these destabilising forc-
ness to enforce anti-coup norms in es, then it needs to be a steadfast
Africa. This is a result of a conflu- champion of democracy in Africa.
ence of factors, including a region- There was a reason the interna-
al democratic recession, an inclina- tional community broadly worked
tion by regional bodies to negoti- to eliminate coups in the post-
ate compromises with coup lead- Cold War period. The same ration-
ers, reticence to mount military ale persists today. The question is
whether international actors re-
member the script. — ispi

AFRICA January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 20

Africa cannot afford a second cold war

HIPPOLYTE Fofack still fresh, and the region cannot afford a For centuries, colonial powers, and then changing geopolitical environment where
CAIRO – More than 20,000 Africans were killed in sequel. In addition to its enormous human superpowers, viewed Africa exclusively technology diffusion reduces the direct
violent conflicts in 2020, an almost tenfold increase and economic costs, the Cold War exac- through the prism of their economic, secu- costs borne by the sponsors of proxy wars.
from a decade ago. Concurrently, and perhaps not erbated political fragmentation in Africa rity, and geopolitical interests. This under- But it is essential to foster Africa’s future
coincidentally, Sino-American rivalry has escalated as countries aligned themselves with ei- mined long-term investment and region- prosperity, alleviate migration pressures,
sharply. A new cold war, this time between the Unit- ther the West or the Soviet bloc. That divi- al integration, which sparked spectacu- combat climate change, and save inno-
ed States and China, along with other regional se- sion sustained market segmentation, rein- lar growth elsewhere the world. Today, the cent lives.
curity threats, could be disastrous for Africa’s eco- forced colonial borders, and undermined same mentality, now fuelled by US-China
nomic development and green transition. cross-border trade and regional integra- tensions, is perpetuating and exacerbat- — project-syndicate
tion. A second cold war would likewise ing insecurity, ensnaring countries across
The dramatic increase in high-intensity conflicts weaken ongoing efforts to deepen inte- Africa, especially in the
in Africa has coincided with two major trends: the gration under the nascent African Conti- Sahel, in both a
expansion of transnational terrorist networks, sus- nental Free Trade Area. “conflict trap” and
tained by a glut of itinerant foreign fighters, and the “poverty trap” that
proliferation of foreign military bases amid rising Si- The subordination of growth and de- keeps them in a
no-American geopolitical tensions. This global con- velopment objectives to security priorities downward spiral.
test to project power has given rise to proxy con- can only worsen intergenerational pover-
flicts raging across the region, including in Ethiopia, ty, fuel migration pressures, damage the As John Maynard
which hosts the headquarters of the African Union, environment, and impede climate-change Keynes said, “The
as the US and China vie for control of natural re- mitigation and adaptation. These risks will difficulty lies not so
sources and strategic trade routes. increase further as policymakers are com- much in developing
pelled to divert scarce resources away new ideas as in es-
As of 2019, 13 foreign countries were carrying out from the infrastructure investment need- caping from old ones.”
military operations on African soil, more than in any ed to diversify African countries’ sources Transcending a cold-
other region, and most have several bases across of growth and accelerate their integration war mindset will not
the continent. Africa is home to at least 47 foreign into the global economy. be easy, especially in a
outposts, with the US controlling the largest num-
ber, followed by France. Both China and Japan es-
tablished their first overseas military bases since
World War II in Djibouti, which is the only country in
the world to host both American and Chinese out-
posts.

A growing number of foreign countries are influ-
encing the outcome of local conflicts, from Central
Africa and the Sahel to the Horn and Northern Afri-
ca. The US has invited many countries in the region
to join an alliance aimed at curbing China’s over-
seas ambitions. Unveiling a new US-Africa strategy
in 2018, then-national security adviser John Bolton
warned that African leaders who failed to support
America diplomatically should not expect much US
aid in the future. Bolton’s statement set the stage
for a return to conditional development assistance,
in which geopolitical considerations rather than in-
vestment returns largely determine rich countries’
allocation of resources to capital-poor economies.

In the 1950s, US President Dwight Eisenhow-
er called proxy wars “the cheapest insurance in the
world,” reflecting their limited political risks and hu-
man costs for sponsors. But these conflicts are tre-
mendously costly for the countries in which they
occur.

In Africa, besides causing huge loss of life, proxy
wars are prolonging insecurity and locking coun-
tries into a downward spiral of intergeneration-
al poverty. Moreover, they drain African countries’
already limited foreign-exchange reserves and
shrink their equally narrow fiscal space while revers-
ing democratic gains, reflected in the recent resur-
gence of military coups.

Moreover, African governments’ rising military
spending is absorbing a growing share of African
government budgets, in contrast to a general de-
cline in other parts of the world, further heightening
the macroeconomic management challenges. Ac-
cording to the Stockholm International Peace Re-
search Institute, military spending in Africa exceed-
ed $43 billion in 2020, up from $15 billion in the
1990s. Defense outlays accounted for an average
of 8.2% of government spending across Africa in
2020, compared to an unweighted global average
of 6.5%. The share is considerably higher in conflict-
affected countries like Mali (18 per cent) and Burki-
na Faso (12 per cent).

And that is where the fastest increases in defense
outlays have occurred. According to SIPRI, three of
the five African countries where military spending is
rising most sharply, Mali, up 339 per cent over the
past decade, Niger (288 per cent), and Burkina Faso
(238 per cent), are battling terrorist networks in the
Sahel, a desperately poor region stretching aross
the continent from Senegal to Sudan and Eritrea.

Even before the COVID-19 crisis erupted, most
poor African countries already faced huge, persis-
tent infrastructure financing gaps, and the increase
in military spending has often come at the expense
of investment in productive, climate-resilient pro-
jects. These shifts in government expenditure are
undermining policymakers’ ability to use robust
public investment to crowd in private capital and
thus keep Africa on the long-run growth trajecto-
ry required to ensure global income convergence.

Growing political and conflict-related risks are
also deterring investment and raising borrowing
costs. In February 2021, for example, Fitch Ratings
downgraded Ethiopia’s sovereign credit rating, cit-
ing among other factors the deterioration of the
country’s political and security environment fol-
lowing the outbreak of civil war and heightened re-
gional tensions.

The scars of the Cold War, which claimed millions
of African lives and was largely responsible for the
lost decades that precipitated a widening income
gap between Africa and the rest of the world, are

FEATURE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 21

Beware of the

WALEX MAGAISA the police (who were trying to free He explained to his son that the who have watched Democrats, ing between ZanuPF and MDC
HY is it that de- them) would cause them trouble. only reason why Monica had fall- the award-winning documentary Ministers.
spite being fully This unusual phenomenon where- en for him was that she was a vic- on the constitution-making pro-
aware of their tor- by hostages become sympathet- tim of something he had heard be- cess in Zimbabwe may recall how These bonds are likely to in-
mentors and the ic and loyal to their captors and fore called Stockholm Syndrome, Douglas Mwonzora representing crease where the person in the
misery they cause, no longer see them as the prob- where a hostage develops affec- the MDC-T, and Paul Mangwana, more powerful position shows acts
some people still support them? lem was from then on coined the tion for his captor and he, Denver, representing Zane PF became very of kindness and mercy towards the
Why do people still vote for individ- Stockholm Syndrome. was Monica’s captor. This left Den- close, even sympathising with each weaker party. If in a hostage situ-
uals whom they know are responsi- ver confused and distraught. He other. This despite the many daily ation the captor allows a captive
ble for their suffering? Why is it that La Casa De Papel had never heard of this Stockholm fights they were involved in to go to the toilet, or to have some
some people still retain positive The Stockholm Syndrome is Syndrome and had sincerely be- the early period of the water, the captive might see these
feelings towards individuals who dramatized and personified in the lieved Monica was in love with him. process. During the
have abused them in the past? popular Spanish series La Casa De inclusive govern- ordinary things as great acts
Papel (Money Heist), a bank rob- Feeling bad about the situation, ment, proximity in of kindness. If the captor
These are vexing questions that bery of epic proportions. All mem- Denver tried to break off his rela- the corridors of spares the life of a hos-
probe the inner chambers of the bers of the gang, except The Pro- tionship with Monica. When Mon- power resulted in tage, the hostage will
human mind. They are difficult fessor, use city names to disguise ica saw this, she was surprised. some bonds see the captor as hav-
questions because such reactions their identities. There’s Tokyo, Nai- Denver explained to her that she devel- ing saved their life.
are counterintuitive. Why would robi, Berlin, Moskow, Oslo, Helsin- did not love him; that she was a op- This is even though
anyone sympathise with or defend ki, Rio, and Denver. There is also victim of something called “Stock- their life is in danger
a person who deliberately hurts Stockholm. But Stockholm was not holm Syndrome”. However, Moni- because of the cap-
them? Why would someone think a member of the original gang. The ca insisted that she was genuinely tor’s actions. We have
a person that has engineered their story behind her switch from hos- in love with him. To top it off, she already seen this
suffering holds keys to their libera- tage to robber brings the Stock- declared that she was adopt- in how Denver and
tion? It seems utterly irrational for holm Syndrome to life in a dramat- ing the name Stockholm as Stockholm fell in love in
an abused person to side with their ic fashion. her new identity. money heist.
abuser. Yet it is not uncommon to Stockholm’s real name was Mon- The Stockholm Syndrome
find victims of abuse expressing ica. She worked for the bank that She became a fully- could be a helpful tool
sympathy with or even defending was being robbed and so she be- fledged member of the to examine and
their abusers. came one of the hostages. One of gang, complete with
the robbers, Denver, was assigned a city name for her
The closest we have for an expla- by the ruthless leader, Berlin to identity, just like all
nation of this seemingly irrational kill Monica as punishment for her the others. The ge-
behaviour is a psychological phe- transgressions. But Denver found it nius of the drama
nomenon called “Stockholm Syn- difficult to execute her. He feigned is that it remark-
drome”. It is defined as a psycho- the execution by shooting her on ably personifies
logical response whereby a person the thigh. Then he helped stop the Stockholm
in captivity develops positive feel- the bleeding and hid her in one of Syndrome
ings and partiality towards their the rooms in the building, secretly through the
captor. Instead of being hostile to bringing her food and medication. character
their captor, the captives tend to Monica felt eternal gratitude to who falls in
identify with them and their cause. Denver for these acts of kindness. love with
The abused person becomes the After all, had he not literally saved her captor.
defender and protector of the her life? Never mind the fact that
abuser. Denver was a member of the gang The
that was robbing the bank and Stockholm
It is named the Stockholm Syn- had held them hostage and there- Syndrome has
drome after a notorious robbery fore endangered her life in the first been observed in oth-
that took place in the capital of place, she now saw him as a lifesav- er real-life situations. Patty Hearst,
Sweden in 1973. Two robbers held er. Monica began to develop posi- who came from a wealthy fam-
four bank workers hostage for six tive feelings towards Denver. It was ily, was kidnapped by a group of
days. During that period, an unu- so intense that the two fell in love revolutionary militants in 1974. She
sual bond developed between the during the heist. It soon blossomed developed close feelings with her
robbers and the hostages. When into an amorous relationship. captors and their cause. She later
one of the hostages spoke to the However, at some point during helped them in a bank robbery.
Swedish Prime Minister on the the heist, Moskow told Denver that
phone during the hostage, she ex- his relationship with Monica was But why does this happen?
pressed disappointment that the not real love. Moskow was Denver’s When people are involved
authorities were refusing to meet father and a member of the gang. closely in difficult situa-
the demands of the robbers. She tions, even when they are
said they were more scared that rivals, they end up de-
veloping bonds. Those

FEATURE January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 22

Trojan Horse

understand the relationship be- son who is responsive and gener- They start imagining and manu- originates from a legend in Greek The legend of the Trojan Horse
tween politicians and citizens in ous. These small favours and acts facturing factions within the group, mythology. The legend is drawn is as relevant to politics as it is to
authoritarian environments. In of benevolence can be enough to hyping the “good faction” while from a tale in Homer’s famous other areas of life. Cunning politi-
such environments, the relation- sway people towards members denigrating the so-called “bad poem, The Iliad which describes cal players will use the Trojan Horse
ship between rulers and citizens is of the authoritarian regime, both faction”. They will manufacture bla- the end of a long-drawn war be- strategy to destroy their oppo-
that of captors and captives. Citi- past, and present. Some will be tant falsehoods to create doubt in tween the Greeks and the Trojans nents from within. Zimbabwe’s po-
zens are held captive by their rul- swayed to vote for them or to em- the minds of the group. The trage- in ancient times. The war had been litical opposition needs to be wary
ers. Just like hostages in a heist, the brace them as allies in the struggle. dy is if the hyped members fall for going on for nearly ten years, with of the possibility of Operation Tro-
lives and freedoms of citizens are the gimmicks. Signs that they are the Greeks laying siege upon Troy, jan Horse. After a long-drawn polit-
entirely at the mercy of the rulers. The Stockholm Syndrome has falling for it include when they start the Trojans’ city, but to no avail. ical struggle, the opposition might
But while citizens know that the even more effect when combined amplifying the so-called “good With both sides exhausted, the be feeling the effects of exhaus-
rulers are responsible for their pre- with a strategy of divide and rule. side” of the captors, underplay- Greeks built a large wooden horse, tion, resources may be scarce, and
dicament, some of them still sup- Divide and rule is an easy way of ing their cruelty. They might even which they left at the gates of Troy some members may be losing pa-
port them anyway. Some of these managing captives. Once you cre- defend their tormentors ahead of seemingly as a peace offering. The tience. In such situations, it is easy
citizens are swayed by the small ate a wedge between them, you members of their group. Authors Greeks then appeared to sail away to grab onto anything, believing it
acts of kindness that the au- sow seeds of mistrust, doubt, and of divide and rule will keep adding in retreat. When the Trojans saw will bring salvation. It is very easy to
thoritarian rulers throw fuel to the fire they created. the wooden horse, they saw it as a fall for anything that appears to of-
their way from time animosity, all of which im- sign of surrender and that the war fer a chance of success.
to time. pede cooperation. This divide and rule strategy can was over. They opened the gates
Captors divide only succeed if the supposedly fa- of their walled city and took the But it is also important to re-
For their part, the captives into voured members of the group suc- structure inside. Soon celebrations member that the point of exhaus-
authoritari- two groups: cumb to the lure of false praise began. After all, the war was over, tion and desperation is also a point
an rulers are one group and accolades. They must see wasn’t it? The Greeks had surren- of greatest vulnerability. There will
adept at using is given fa- that they are being used in a sub- dered and retreated. be offers of gifts and it is hard to
small acts of vours while tle game of divide and rule. Any- What the Trojans did not know resist the allure. But these gifts
kindness to the other one who declares that they are not was that well-armed Greek sol- may also be weapons in disguise.
lure citizens is subject- for your organization and attacks it diers were hiding inside the belly of It is important not to behave like
to their side. ed to harsh and its members cannot possibly the large wooden structure. There- the Trojans. Before you bring the
When rural treatment. be a genuine ally. They are pursu- fore, by bringing it into their city, wooden horse into the gates of the
citizens get Natural- ing their interests and you just hap- the Trojans had allowed the ene- city, be sure that it is not carrying
agricultur- ly, mem- pen to be a convenient tool in that my inside too. In other words, the the opponent’s troops. Here, it is
al inputs or bers of the enterprise. There is nowhere in the Greeks had entered the Trojans’ important to remember that ZANU
food aid, for favoured history of humankind where, dur- citadel without even fighting. And PF factions differ in their fights over
example, they group feel ing a war, one side has genuinely just as the Trojans dropped their who should oversee their party,
see the govern- indebted praised and defended some mem- guard, the Greek soldiers came out but they are united by their alle-
ment as a lifesav- to their cap- bers of its opponents while attack- of the wooden horse and opened giance to it and its way of life. You
er. When the govern- tors and devel- ing the others, unless the agenda the gates of Troy for their fellow only must look at the list of for-
ment announces that it op positive feelings was to divide and conquer. When soldiers who were lurking outside. mer ZANU PF members who joined
is paying bonuses in foreign towards them. They Ian Douglas Smith showered praise The Greeks entered Troy and won the MDC over the years, only to re-
currency, public servants are grate- on Bishop Muzorewa, it was not an easy victory. According to turn to ZANU PF once opportuni-
ful, never mind that they spend the might even begin to defend because he rated him. the legend, that is how ties arose. They will almost always
whole year earning in useless lo- them against their fellow captives He simply saw him the Trojans were de- return home, where they are ideo-
cal currency. When the courts re- on the other side. Instead of iden- as a convenient feated. logically located.
lease an opposition cadre on bail, tifying with their fellow captives, tool to protect Over time,
some people celebrate and think it the favoured ones begin to identify his constitu- when some- The MDC Alliance must be wary
is about justice. But the activ- ency’s inter- thing was re- of attempts to separate Nelson
ist should never have been more with their captors. ests, while ferred to as “a Chamisa from the party. The no-
in jail in the first place. In politics, archi- thwarting Trojan Horse”, tion that there is convergence over
tects of divide his ma- it was be- Chamisa but not the party is divi-
Sometimes the gov- and rule pick jor oppo- cause it was sive and preposterous. Chamisa
ernment makes an un- a few mem- nents. a weap- is an important figure in Zimba-
popular decision be- bers of the on that was bwean politics, but he is not a lone
fore the President group For disguised ranger and the attempt to cast him
steps in to reverse it. whom mem- as a gift. It as such should be strongly resist-
That way he ap- they bers of is the Roman ed. He cannot be excised from the
pears like a man show- the op- poet Virgil political organisation that he leads.
of the people. er with position, who is cred- Someone cannot claim to like him
While some peo- prais- knowing ited with coin- while treating the organisation that
ple might see es and that they ing the phrase he leads with contempt and dis-
through it, others acco- are poten- “Be wary of Greeks dain.
will see the Pres- lades tial victims bearing gifts” in his
ident as while of the Stock- account of the legend of In this regard, the idea that the
a per- viciously holm Syndrome is only election that matters is the
attacking an important step in presidential race is grievously mis-
the rest of avoiding it or mitigating the Trojan War. When people taken. A president cannot run the
the group. its effects. When you see yourself country effectively, if at all unless
getting too close to or sympathiz- he is also in control of the parlia-
say beware of the Greeks bearing
ing with your captors, then the gifts, they are warning you mentary party. An election
risk of acquiring the Stock- to be careful because strategy that prioritiz-
holm Syndrome is too high sometimes things es the presidential
and steps must be taken to that are presented candidate and rel-
mitigate it. Be wary of char- as gifts can turn egates the par-
acters that are generous out to be your liamentary race
with personal praises while greatest un- to the mar-
attacking your colleagues. doing. gins would
If you find yourself pinning The ene- be a disas-
your hopes on the oppres- my will offer ter. When all
sor or former oppressors, you a Trojan is said and
it might be useful to con- Horse and if done, the
sider implementing risk- you do not opposition
mitigation measures. exercise cau- should not
Part 2: “Be wary of tion and due fall for cheap
Greeks bearing gifts” diligence you gifts as the
The adage “Be wary will end up with Trojans did in
of Greeks bear- more problems that Greek leg-
ing gifts” in your organiza- end. If they are not
tion. careful, they might
Modern readers find themselves under
may be familiar with
the term Trojan as it is used siege after letting in the en-
in respect of computer vi- emy through the gates.
ruses. They are so named
because the strategy I know you want a word on the
mimics the legendary by-elections that were announced
Trojan Horse: they ap- this week. That is a subject for the
pear as benevolent next BSR.
gifts and once inside
the system they de- Alex Magaisa is a constitution-
stroy and steal data. al expert. He writes in his own per-
sonal capacity.

SPORT January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 23

Hamilton to decide on F1 future after Abu Dhabi inquiry

ABU DHABI — Lewis Hamilton will not decide wheth- the hope the race would restart before the they were not in the way, but leaving all but withdrew that notice after three days
er to return to Formula 1 this season until he sees the chequered flag, but Mercedes felt they the others in place, including the two cars of talks with the FIA.
results of an inquiry into the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. could not do the same with Ham-
ilton because it would have between Verstappen and third- Wolff has accused Masi of "a freestyle
Hamilton is "disillusioned" with F1, his Mercedes meant the Briton losing the placed Carlos Sainz's Ferrari. reading of the rules [that] left Lewis like a
team boss Toto Wolff has said, as a result of last lead with no certainty the In addition, Masi ignored sitting duck", adding: "Robbing him in the
year's title-deciding race. race would restart. a rule that dictates that last lap of the race is unacceptable."
the race restarts at the
Hamilton lost the championship to Red Bull's Max Masi then failed to end of the following But he has also said that there is a big-
Verstappen after FIA race director Michael Masi did apply the rules cor- lap after the lapped ger problem for the FIA to solve than just
not apply the rules correctly in a late safety-car pe- rectly in two differ- cars have been re- finding a new race director.
riod. ent ways. moved, and restart-
ed it a lap early "It's not only a decision to change the
Insiders say Hamilton has lost trust in the govern- Normal proto- That lap was the race director; the whole system of deci-
ing body as a result. col is to allow either last racing lap, and sion-making needs to be improved," Wolff
all the lapped cars Verstappen used said. "The race director is certainly under
Mercedes declined to comment on the situation dotted through the extra grip of his big pressure and some of that is due to our
surrounding Hamilton's future when approached by the field to un-lap fresh tyres to pass own faults."
BBC Sport. themselves so they Hamilton, win the
do not interfere with race and take his first One major change expected as a result
The team and Hamilton are said to be aligned racing on the restart, world title. of Abu Dhabi is for team principals to no
on the issue and waiting to see what action the FIA or leave all in place. An initial appeal by longer be allowed to contact the race di-
takes to address the matters raised by the Abu Dha- Mercedes against the rector during a grand prix.
bi race. But Masi allowed results of the race was re-
only some of the lapped jected by stewards that night. Both Wolff and Red Bull's Christian
The FIA has launched an inquiry into the events at cars in between the lead- Horner lobbied for actions that favoured
Yas Marina and is aware both of Hamilton's unhap- ers to un-lap themselves — The team gave notice of their in- their teams in the course of the race, as
piness and that it has a big task on its hands to win sending the five cars between tention to appeal against that decision has become normal practice in recent sea-
back the seven-time champion's confidence. Hamilton and Verstappen through so sons.

New president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has — BBC Sport
said he has contacted Hamilton since his election
five days after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE
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"I don't think he's 100% ready to respond right
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him. I understand his position."
Areas of discussion will be:
Some senior F1 insiders are concerned that the
governing body has not fully grasped the threat to Ÿ COP26 resolutions (Adaptation, Financing & Ÿ Climate Change
its credibility created by the final race of the season. Mitigation) Standards: focus on ISO 50001
Ÿ Ÿ Local Government catalysing
It has been a month since the Abu Dhabi race. Ÿ Internationally bankable PPAs Ÿ Renewable Energy upatake
But when asked about the timing of the inquiry's Financing Models for Clean Energy
findings or what matters it will seek to address, the Ÿ Rethinking Mobility
FIA said it was not yet ready to answer queries. Ÿ Decarbonisation of the Grid Ÿ Nuclear Energy

The FIA admitted in a statement last month that Ÿ Energy Transition
the events of Abu Dhabi were "tarnishing the im-
age" of F1 but also said that it had "generated sig- Who should attend
nificant misunderstanding and reactions from F1
teams, drivers and fans". Diplomats Independent Power Producers
Policy Makers Insurance Firms
Announcing the inquiry, the FIA said it would be Solar equipment manufacturers Local Authorities
done in time for "any identified meaningful feed- Development Finance Institutions Power Developers
back and conclusions to be made before the be- Private Equity Investors Legal Institutions
ginning of the 2022 season". Commercial Banks Development Bankers
Property Developers Utility & regulators
The first of two pre-season tests starts on 23 Feb- Consultants Fund Managers
ruary, while the opening race is in Bahrain on 18-20 Contractors Motor Vehicle Manufacturers
March. Transport Operators Technology Developers
Academia Regional & International energy bodies
The future of Masi is in doubt as a result of his
handling of the race, which came at the end of a The New Frontier...
season in which there were repeated concerns
among teams and drivers over the consistency of Net-Zero Africa
application of the rules.
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of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis
would no longer be in their positions for the 2022
season.

Mercedes deny that any such deal was reached,
and insist that they dropped their appeal after re-
ceiving assurances only that the issue would be
treated seriously and appropriate action would be
taken by the FIA.

Wolff said last month that Mercedes would "hold
the FIA to account".

He did not clarify how he intended to do that
but said he had "confidence, trust and faith" that
the teams and drivers could work with the govern-
ing body to create a "more robust decision-mak-
ing process".

Several senior figures have told BBC Sport that
they do not see how Masi can retain his position as
race director, but some have cautioned that the FIA
is in a difficult position because there is no obvious
replacement.

What is Hamilton's contractual situation?
Hamilton signed a new two-year contract with
Mercedes last year, which in theory will keep him at
the team until at least the end of 2023.
Mercedes have recruited George Russell, one of
the leading lights of the new generation of drivers,
as the seven-time champion's team-mate in 2022.
The likeliest outcome is thought to be that the
FIA will take significant action and that Hamilton
will return in 2022.
But if Hamilton did decide to step away from F1,
it is not immediately obvious who Mercedes would
recruit to replace him.
Every major driver is under contract for the 2022
season and it is likely Mercedes would have to seek
a deal to buy their chosen candidate out of his cur-
rent commitments - as they did when they bought
Valtteri Bottas out of Williams when Nico Rosberg
retired after winning the 2016 world title.
What happened in Abu Dhabi to upset Hamilton?
Hamilton had dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand
Prix and was on course to win a record-breaking
eighth world drivers' title when the safety car was
sent out when Nicholas Latifi crashed his Williams
with five laps to go.
Red Bull pitted Verstappen to fit fresh tyres in

January 5 to January 12 2022 Weekly Digest 24 January 12 to 18 2022 Weekly Digest 24

Flower
joins
Sussex

as
batting
coach

SUSSEX CCC have signed former Zimbabwe cricketer
and much-travelled coach Grant Flower to be their bat-
ting coach. He replaces Jason Swift, who has stepped
down to pursue other opportunities.
“It gives me great pleasure to be added to the
Sussex coaching staff and I can’t wait to start,”
Flower, an integral part of the Zimbabwe side
from 1992 to 2010, said in a statement released
by the club. “I have been told about
the exciting young batters coming
through the ranks and am excited
to be given the opportunity of
hopefully improving them
along their journey.
“I always enjoyed
playing against the
Sharks and ad-
mired their pro-
fessional ap-
proach and ultra-
competitiveness.
Hopefully I can
add to that
with some of
my interna-
tional coach-
ing experiences
and help contribute to make the Sharks batting unit both
reliable and exciting.”
Flower’s last assignment was as batting coach of the Sri Lanka
side, which ended in 2021 after a two-year stint. Prior to that, he had
worked in a similar capacity with Pakistan and, before that, with Zimba-
bwe. He has also had coaching gigs with Essex and Midwest Rhinos in Zim-
babwe.
During his playing career, which included 67 Tests (3457 runs at an average of 29,54)
and 221 ODIs (6571 runs at 33.52), Flower spent six seasons with Essex, from 2005 to 2010,
winning three one-day trophies with them.
“Grant is an absolutely fantastic addition to our staff," Sussex's championship and one-day head coach Ian Salis-
bury said. “I’ve known him since my first trip to Zimbabwe in 1989 and can vouch for his personal qualities, while his
coaching and playing record speak for themselves.
“With a young squad in the early stage of their careers, the quality of the coaching set-up is absolutely vital.
To add someone with Grant's track record alongside people like James Kirtley, Sarah Taylor, Ash Wright and
Mike Yardy puts us in a really strong position. I feel humbled to be working alongside this group.
“There have been some challenges over the past year or so, but we’ve got to look forward now. We've
got a brilliant coaching team in place, the medical and S&C teams are doing great work with the
lads’ fitness, we’ve got the marquee going up early in the New Year, so we're in a great position to
now focus on the squad's cricketing skills as we build up to the start of the season.”

— espncricinfo